Mermaid Hunter
by HallowedRider
Summary: Sevan has hunted mermaids for more than half of his life. His parents were drowned when he was younger, and the haunting melodies of the creatures who did it still haunt his dreams. He won't rest until he has his vengeance on the mermaids who took away everything from him. The mako crew seem to be his next target, but can they change this hunter's mind about what good and evil are?
1. The Hunt Begins

The man sitting before Sevan glanced at him over the sheaf of papers in his hand while he held a phone in his other, awaiting an answer from the one he was calling. Sevan sat comfortably in the seat before the desk, elbow resting on the arm of his chair and his head resting on his hand. "Hello, is this Dr. Strocyzk?" The man asked into the phone, setting the papers down and leaning back in his chair. "How are you today? This is Dr. Ross from the Mako Marine Park in Australia. Oh I'm doing fine thank you, I just had a question for you regarding a reference we were given. I have a young man before me by the name of Sevan Walker here in front of me and he listed you as one of his references, as I said."

Sevan didn't hear what Dr. Strocyzk said in response, but he guessed it was favorable based on the surprised look that flitted across Dr. Ross's face. "Oh, is that so?" He asked with a note of incredulity in his voice. "Really? Your full recommendation?"

Dr. Ross glanced at Sevan again, disbelief evident on his face as the other doctor continued to speak in his ear. "I see. All that? Forgive me, it seems a bit… much from someone so young. It is rare to see even a veteran researcher with as many… accomplishments as him. When I saw that you were listed as his references, and since our parks have done so much joint work, I thought I would contact you to see if there was any truth here."

The conversation went on for a few more moments with Sevan quickly growing bored with having his references thoroughly questioned by the doctor. He hoped that Dr. Ross wasn't intending on calling every single person on his list. He did not have the patience to sit here for every single person on his list to revalidate him to the good doctor. Luckily, after hanging up with Dr. Strocyzk, Dr. Ross hung up the phone and folded his hands as he leaned forward in his chair. "Well, Sevan, it seems that you are what you claim to be."

"I could, and did, have told you that." He answered with an easy grin. "So, what do you say? Care to take me on?"

"Honestly, I have to ask you about that." Dr. Ross said. Sevan hid the annoyance that ran through him easily enough, but it was there nonetheless. "With your resume, with your references, you could have a job at any animal sanctuary or wildlife park anywhere in the world. Why did you bother to come here?"

"Personal vested interest." Sevan said with a shrug. "I've heard good things about your marine park, so I thought it might be a nice place to work for a little while. That, and you have quite the impressive amount of animals here for being a relatively small park."

"Well, you have the job." Dr. Ross said, accepting his words. He then paused and tilted his head ever so slightly to one side. "Actually, you never really gave me a clear idea on what job you wanted to take. We have an opening on our Director of Birds-."

"Anything with exploration?" Sevan asked hopefully. Such a position would be much more beneficial with his actual goal. "You know, keep an eye on some of the animals you have tagged? Perhaps bring back some animals you don't have on display here?"

"We… don't really have anything like that." Dr. Ross said apologetically. "I usually just send off my dolphin trainer, Chris, and my shark expert, Karl. They usually make out pretty well, especially with recent events considered."

"Recent events?" Sevan asked with a bit of eagerness in his voice. "Anything that I could help with?"

"No, well, not anymore." Dr. Ross winced good-naturedly and rolled his eyes. "One of the local boys swears he saw a sea monster out by Mako Island. I had my boys go and take a look, but it turned out to be just a water spout."

"A water spout." Sevan repeated, one eyebrow arching. "At this time of year? In these waters?"

"Look, Dr. Stroczyk speaks highly of you, but as a scientist you have to know that sometimes things just can't be explained." Dr. Ross shrugged. "So, back to the matter at hand, any ideas on what job you want?"

"How about I just manage your… larger animals?" Sevan suggested. "Sharks, dolphins, manatees, everything like that. I could take some of your cephalopods too if you'd like."

"I can't rightfully turn you down, now can I?" Dr. Ross asked with a good-natured grin. "After we finish up here I'll introduce you to the people that you will be supervising. It'll be good for them, being around someone as qualified and knowledgeable as you."

"Who will I be reporting to?" Sevan asked, leaning back in his chair. "You?"

"If something you can't handle comes up, sure." Dr. Ross nodded. "Other than that, I think you should be able to handle almost everything this place throws at you. Right?"

"I don't see why not." Sevan didn't mention that he was far more experienced than even the doctor and that anything he couldn't handle was likely far out of the doctor's league. "So, when do I start?"

"Right now if you'd like." Dr. Ross said, getting up from his chair and extending a hand. "I assume that the salary you'd like-."

"A Director's salary would do just fine." Sevan finished for him. He waited to see if the doctor would pose an argument and was pleased when the hand remained extended. Sevan shook it and Dr. Ross led him out of the room and into what appeared to be a supply room.

He rooted around in a bin for a few moments while Sevan leaned against the wall, curious as to what the doctor was searching for. When he pulled out a tan polo shirt with the marine park's logo on the right breast Sevan had to suppress a sigh. No matter where he went, humans had such an annoying tendency to put their marks on everything they owned in some way. He affected a cheerful smile and quickly swapped out the shirt for the simple white T-shirt he had been wearing. He glanced down at himself, clad in cargo shorts and the tan polo, and then back to Ross. "I see we match now." Sevan noted.

"We have a sort of dress code here." Ross explained, replacing the lid on the container he had gotten the shirt out of and then leading the way out of the room. "Directors and above wear tan shirts while those under the position wear blue ones. It makes things easier, trust me. If you don't mind my asking, that's an unusual necklace."

Sevan glanced down in surprise at the silver chain. Three blue rings were hanging from the metal right in the center of his chest. "Oh, this old thing? Just something I picked up. The rings are… part of a kind of set you see. I collect them."

"They look familiar." Dr. Ross said uncertainly, his eyes clouding over as he attempted to remember. Sevan waited with a high degree of apprehension but was disappointed when the doctor slowly shook his head. "Sorry, I know I've seen them before but I can't remember. I'll let you know though, if I see anymore?"

"No arguments here." Sevan said, shielding his eyes from the sun as they re-emerged outside. He had expected Australian summers to be hot but this was far more than he had expected. "Anyways, where to now?"

"Well, I actually have another appointment right now." Ross said, consulting his watch. He pointed down a path to their right and said, "Follow that down and take the first right. That will take you to the dolphin enclosures. You can introduce yourself to Chris."

"The dolphin trainer, right?" Sevan recalled, "Sounds good. I left my number on your desk, you can call me with the specifics of what programs you want me to head up. For now, I'm going to say hello. Have a good day, Dr. Ross."

"And you as well, Mr. Walker." They shook hands again and Ross began to walk back inside the management building. "It is a pleasure to have you join our marine park family."

"Oh, believe me, the pleasure is all mine." Sevan smiled back and set off down the path he had been directed.

He had to admit, the Marine Park was quite lovely. The foliage and the water exhibits flowed together wonderfully and the animals seemed genuinely happy. He passed an exhibit of penguins and rolled his eyes as he passed them, the birds evidently recognizing his shirt and demanding that they be fed. "Penguins never change, no matter where I go." He said aloud, chuckling softly. "Greedy little devils, the lot of them."

"Yeah, I have to agree with you there." A girl said from behind him.

Sevan turned around and immediately placed a smile on his face. "Sorry, I was just thinking aloud." He explained, nodding back to the birds. "I've worked with them before, you see."

"Oh, have you?" She asked, leaning on her stuffed-animal laden cart and gazing over the birds. "They do like to eat though. Mackerel is their favorite."

"Is it now?" Seven asked, regarding the birds thoughtfully. He pulled a notebook from his pocket and quickly jotted down the note. "Good to know. Has that been tested, or is that just what you have noticed from feeding them?"

"Oh, just something I noticed." She had deep brown hair and a tanned complexion, but what caught his attention was her accent. Or therefore lack of one.

"You aren't from around here, are you?" He asked kindly, noting this as well. She looked momentarily startled and he shrugged. "Your accent is a dead giveaway. Let me guess, North America somewhere? Maybe Canada?"

"Somewhere around there." She admitted, her smile now slightly wary. "I'm… sorry, I don't know you."

"Oh, forgive my rudeness," Sevan winced and laughed. "My name is Sevan, I'm the new Director of Large Animals here. Or something like that. My title isn't really clear. I'm taking over as the manager for the sharks, dolphins, and such."

"I'm Mimmi," She said, extending a hand tentatively.

Sevan extended his hand as well and shook it. "It's a pleasure to meet you. I'm sure that we will get along very well. I'm sorry, I think I might have gotten a little turned around. Do you think that you could point me in the direction of the dolphin pools?"

"Oh, I'm going there too!" She said brightly, setting the brakes on her cart. "I love dolphins, they are just so playful."

"Smart, too." Sevan nodded. "Do you know the species that they have here?"

"They have a few actually." Mimmi told him. Sevan nodded and wrote this down as well. "They don't… They don't always get along, coming from different pods, but they make it work well enough."

"You talk like you can speak with them." Sevan told her, smiling kindly.

"Oh, mate, you have no idea." A brown haired man told him, jogging up to them as they neared the dolphin pool. "Mimmi is magic with the dolphins. It's like she can talk to them or something. Even taught me enough to get me sent to become a dolphin trainer."

Sevan pulled out a second notebook and, keeping his face neutral, made a note of this as well. "Well, Mimmi, it appears that we are quite fortunate to have you with us." He turned to Chris and shook his hand as well. "My name's Sevan. I'm the new Director of Large Animals."

Chris blinked in surprise and glanced down to Sevan's shirt. "Mate, you can't be much older than I am."

"Eighteen, actually." Sevan nodded. "Dr. Ross just hired me on, you are welcome to check with him if you'd like."

"No, no, it's fine." Chris said quickly. "He just didn't mention any of this to me, or any of us."

"I just got in today." Sevan explained. "I prefer to be spontaneous. Makes things more interesting. Less of a chance for people to put up false fronts, you know?"

"I can understand that." Chris nodded. "So, did you want me to give you a tour?"

"Actually, I was thinking, why don't the three of us get into the pool with the dolphins?" He suggested, gesturing expansively to both of them. "I find that animals have a better sense of people than, well, people do. And I would like to see how you both work with animals. Especially you, Mimmi, if you are as good as Chris says you are."

"Oh, I really can't." She said immediately, barely after the words had left his lips. "I have to get back to my shift." She apologized again, waved goodbye, and then jogged away to presumably return to her cart.

"You were saying?" Sevan asked Chris skeptically, "You said she is some sort of prodigy?"

"Oh, trust me, she is." Chris hurriedly reassured him. "But she doesn't like going into water where people can see her."

"But you have seen her in the water?" Sevan asked, a knowing smile quirking his lips.

"Of course." Chris said immediately. He then paused and amended his statement. "Sort of. When she taught me how to work with the dolphins, she made me close my eyes."

Sevan wrote this down in his notebook as well and frowned slightly. "That's interesting…" He murmured. "Very interesting."

 **As promised, Mermaid Hunter has returned. As you can undoubtedly see, the first changes are obvious. The biggest one to note is that this is taking place during Season 4(for Netflix watchers that is. Aussies, this would be season three for you.) This particular chapter comes right before Zac learns Turn the Tide. I thank you for your time in advance. Any issues you have with this, please, let me know.**

 **Cheers, Hallowed**


	2. Prey Discovered

The first day at the Marine Park went extraordinarily well, even by Sevan's very high standards. The people who worked there seemed quite knowledgeable about the animals and plants they tended to, often going above and beyond what the norm for a keeper was. In fact, Sevan had very few issues that he saw needed to be corrected and those that did exist were easily rectified. The salinity content in one of the Cuttlefish tanks was a bit too high and they had two species of territorial predatory fish in the same environment. Both of these were quick fixes however, and Sevan had already spoken with the keepers on having them fixed the next day. In addition to the keepers' knowledge they all seemed like good enough people. The only one Sevan reserved judgement on was the shark keeper, Karl. He seemed a likeable enough fellow, but he was a bit arrogant especially for one who worked with apex predators.

Sevan was leaning against the railing of the dolphin exhibit, smiling as the animals swam back and forth. They were evidently racing one another to one side of the pool to the next in an endless loop. "Full of energy, aren't they?" Chris asked as he jogged over to Sevan and took a place next to him on the railing. "They do this a lot actually. Really playful lot, all of them."

"Dolphins are social creatures." Sevan reminded him, not bothering to take his eyes off of the aquatic mammals. "Games like this, while also for fun, also reinforce social ties amongst their pod. It's a key part of how they interact with one another."

"It's nice to just sit here and watch them sometimes." Chris added.

"Your constant interaction is probably why they like you so much." Sevan nodded, pushing off the railing and turning down to walk down the path. As he predicted, Chris followed closely after him.

"You think so?" He asked, surprised.

"Oh, absolutely." Sevan said honestly, nodding vigorously. He glanced slyly over at the brown haired Aussie and grinned slightly. "That can also be said for a certain brunette toy seller here."

It was interesting to see how fast Chris turned crimson as he blushed. "I-I-." He stammered, scrabbling desperately for a response."

"Tsk, tsk, Chris." Sevan said chidingly, shaking his head back and forth slowly. "Employee-employee relationships are forbidden by the Marine Park's code you know."

"Wh-what, no, it's not- really?" Chris asked finally, a note of panic in his voice. "I seriously didn't know, you-."

"Joking, mate." Sevan said, grinning openly now. "Just joking. There's no rule against it, you are good."

Chris let out a deep breath and took another one, repeating the process several times. "That's not funny." He said, frowning at Sevan. "You nearly gave me a panic attack."

"Nearly?" Sevan smirked. "Please."

They walked in silence for a few more minutes before Chris spoke up again. "So… you think Mimmi likes me?"

"I wouldn't have said it if I didn't." Sevan answered back cryptically. He then relented and added, "Mate, if you can't tell that I think you might be spending a bit too much time with the fish. I saw you two together for all of fifteen minutes today and it was more than obvious."

"Huh." Chris said, processing this. They exited the park via the employee only section, walking in silence while Chris continued to mull this new information over. Sevan pulled out his phone and checked the time, glancing up at the setting sun. "Hey, what are you doing tonight?"

"Huh, what?" Sevan asked, caught off guard. "Oh, tonight? Nothing as far as I know. Do some exploring I guess. Why, did you have something in mind?"

"If you are going to be around here for a while, I could show you where everyone hangs out." Chris offered. "It's this nice little café that looks over the beach. A friend of mine actually runs the place."

"Sounds good." Sevan shrugged. "After you then."

Chris led them their quickly enough, questioning Sevan as to where he had been. He was surprised when Sevan had to list off all of the places he had traveled to and worked at. "Really? You've been to the Archipelagos?"

"Three times." Sevan nodded. "Research trips all. If you ever get the chance, take it. It's beautiful and the place is absolutely full of species you can't find anywhere else."

"Man, how did you do it?" Chris asked slightly in awe. "I mean, you've been everywhere! And I was talking to Dr. Ross earlier, you worked at the San Diego dolphin training center as one of the people who teach the perspective trainers! How did you do it? Are your parents-?"

"My parents died when I was very, very little." Sevan said quietly, cutting Chris off.

A stunned look passed over him and he quickly apologized. "Look, I'm sorry man, I didn't mean to be rude."

"It's no big deal." Sevan reassured him, stepping onto the boardwalk. "Really. It happened a very long time ago, and I have moved past it. Moving on, is this it?"

"Oh, yeah." Chris said, stopping before the glass doors and ushering Sevan inside. "Come on, I'll introduce you to everyone."

"I look forward to it…" Sevan's voice trailed off as he stepped through the door and scanned the café out of sheer force of habit. The place was nearly empty save for a group of six people gathered around a table with glasses before them. Two boys and four girls, all of them glancing over at the newcomers to the café.

"Oh, Chris!" A curly brown haired man in a shirt with the café's logo on it waved at the dolphin trainer in greeting. "Off work then? Can I get you something to drink?"

"Just water, if that's alright?" Chris called back, glancing only briefly away from Mimmi. "How's it goin, David?"

"Well enough thanks." David answered back. "Who's your friend?"

"Oh, everyone, this is Sevan." Chris said, patting him on the shoulder. "He's Mimmi and my new boss at the Marine Park. Sevan, this is Cam, Zac, Evie, Ondina, Weilan, and you know Mimmi."

"Pleasure to meet all of you." Sevan said, smiling warmly at them. "Nice to see you again, Mimmi."

"Nice to see you too." She said kindly. She gestured to the table, though Sevan noticed that her gaze was focused on Chris, and asked, "Would you two like to sit with us?"

"Sounds good." Chris said, pulling up a chair next to her and taking his seat.

"Mind if I sit next to you?" Sevan asked politely, pulling up a chair between Cam and Zac.

"Not at all." Cam said, scooting over. "Always nice to have a new customer."

"I'm sure." Sevan nodded in agreement. "Particularly one that promises to be a frequent patron, correct?"

"Yeah, that sounds about right." Evie said, rolling her eyes. "Cam, manners. Just because you are part owner of the café now doesn't mean you have to see dollar signs everywhere."

"It's all about maximizing profit, Evie." Cam said, leaning back in his chair and placing his hands behind his head. "I can be a businessman and a nice guy at the same time."

Sevan barely heard them, his gaze fixed on Ondina's right hand. A very familiar looking blue ring was setting on her ring finger, her hand wrapped around a glass of some sort of drink. His gaze quickly swept around the table and he discovered two other Moon Rings present, one on Evie's hand and one on Mimmi's. _I was right!_ He said to triumphantly to himself, fighting off an excited grin.

He slowly brought his gaze back to David and called, "Hey, David, I hate to be a bother, but could I get a glass of water as well?"

"Sure, no problem." David answered good-naturedly, quickly filling a glass and bringing it over. He set it before Sevan and shook his proffered hand. "Pleasure to meet you."

"The pleasure's all mine." Sevan answered quickly, rising from his seat with calculated clumsiness and purposely knocking over the glass of water that David had just placed in front of him.

Before the glass had even fallen over, the moment that everyone present saw that it was going to spill over the table, everyone at the table with the exception of Cam and Chris had backed far away. The blonde haired man brought his chair onto all fours and quickly grabbed for a napkin while the others stayed away from the table like the water was poison. _Five?_ Sevan thought incredulously. _And a merman? I've hit the jackpot._

"My, my, my," Sevan said with an arrogant smile. "Forgive me, I did not mean to."

"Its fine, happens all the time." David reassured him, fetching more napkins and using them to soak up the liquid before it could spread across the table.

Sevan slowly dragged his gaze over each of the people who had quickly vacated the table and a sly grin replaced his arrogant one. "Forgive me, did I do something wrong?" He asked with a touch too much innocence. "Let me guess, can't touch the water?"

Their shock and immediate suspicion could not be clearer. It was Cam who spoke up. "Can't touch the water?" He asked, clearly trying to bluster his way through what he perceived to be a random question. He put a finger in the remaining small puddle of water and then looked at Sevan with a superior expression. "You mean like this?"

"Oh, I wasn't speaking to you." Sevan said easily, lounging back in his chair. He glanced over at Chris and smiled apologetically. "Sorry man, but this is a private conversation. Would you mind giving us the room for a few minutes?"

"Uh, sure?" Chris said, his confusion clear on his face. It was obvious that, to him, nothing more had happened than his friends trying to avoid being soaked by the water. "Everything alright?"

"Oh, yeah, fine." Sevan said, looking at the others and daring them to speak up. He had no issue exposing their secret to someone who clearly had no clue. "Just peachy. Don't worry, this won't take a minute."

When Chris had left the café, presumably to stand right outside the door in case something happened inside, Sevan slowly got up from his seat. He saw the blonde mermaid, Ondina he recalled, twitch her right hand. The hand with the Moon Ring. Sevan slowly reached under his shirt and pulled out his silver chain with the three Moon Rings strung on it. The intake of breath from the assembled people was amusingly audible. "Aah, that's strike three." Sevan breathed, letting the necklace hang on the outside of his shirt. "The water was strike two. The fact that three of you are wearing Moon Rings, that was strike one."

"Who are you?" Zac challenged, raising his hand slightly towards Sevan. "What do you want?"

"Ah-ah." Sevan said, wagging his finger disapprovingly. "No magic from you."

"You aren't in any position to say something like that." Ondina said confidently, raising her fist and pointing her Moon Ring at Sevan. The blue stone glowed bright but the light quickly dimmed and then faded away to nothing.

"Actually, you will find that I am in the perfect position to say something like that." Sevan corrected, placing a hand in his pocket and slowly drawing out a blue crystal the size of a golf ball. "Because, if history is anything to tell by, you mermaids have _such_ a bad reaction to sea crystal. I'm afraid that your magic just won't work so long as this is around."

"What do you want?" Evie demanded, clearly angry and confused. "Who are you?"

"As Chris said, my name is Sevan." He made a mocking little bow and then straightened back to a standing position. "And as for what I want, well, that much is simple. I want you magic. I've come for your Moon Rings."


	3. Counter

"Well, I think that takes care of introductions." Sevan said suddenly, rising from the table and smiling at each of the patrons in the café coldly. He rapped the table with the knuckle of his index finger and began to walk out saying, "I'll… be in touch. See you at work tomorrow, Mimmi."

The group watched as the blonde haired man strode purposefully out of the café, a smirk on his face as he passed Chris. "All finished up in there." They heard him say. "You can go in. I'll see you tomorrow."

Chris did just that, walking back into the café with a look on confusion that matched perfectly with the others. "Okay," Cam said slowly, rising from his seat and crossing his arms. He put a finger to his lips and asked, "What… just happened?"

"Rita's." Ondina said immediately. "Now. We have to tell her about this. Maybe she knows something."

The blonde mermaid swept out of the café and the others quickly followed after her. Chris grabbed Mimmi gently by the arm and asked, "Hey, what's going on? Did Sevan say something bad? What was that about?"

"Look, Chris, I can't-." Mimmi began apologetically.

"Mimmi, come _on_!" Ondina called urgently. "We need to go!"

"I'll explain later!" Mimmi promised Chris as she ran after the others.

When the café was empty save for Chris, Carly, and David he turned to the other two and spread his arms wide. "What did I just miss?" Chris asked, his face still covered in confusion.

"Why are you coming?" Weilan asked Cam curiously as they half-jogged to Rita's house. "You don't have a tail."

"I want to figure out what his deal is too." Cam explained quickly. "Besides, you might need my help. It wouldn't be the first time."

"Fair enough." Zac agreed, pushing open the gate to Rita's house and letting the others inside. They rushed through the door and made a beeline for the grotto, thoroughly startling Rita who had been petting Poseidon and reading a book. "Rita!"

"Is everything alright?" She asked, quickly registering the looks of panic on her students' faces. "Are any of you hurt?"

"No, we're fine." Evie assured her. "But…" And so he group quickly launched into an explanation of what had just transpired at the café, detailing every single thing they had remembered.

Rita listened intently as they spoke, her book now closed and resting beside her on the stone couch. Her face went from mild concern to grave interest very quickly as they spoke. Only when they finished speaking did Rita finally talk again. "This is not good." She said.

"Bit of an obvious statement." Cam noted, drawing a glare from the others. "Sorry."

"The fact that he knows about mermaids and mermen is troubling enough." Rita said, rising from her seat and letting Poseidon jump down from her lap. The fluffy white cat sent his owner a look of disapproval before scampering off to, presumably, find a new place to rest. "But you say that he identified you simply by your Moon Rings and your avoidance of water?"

"That's right." Ondina nodded vigorously. "How is that possible? Humans don't know about mermaids!"

Cam raised an eyebrow and Mimmi patted him reassuringly on the shoulder. "You don't count." She told him.

"Humans have always known about mermaids." Rita disagreed with Ondina, walking across the grotto to grab a book from the shelf. She flipped it open and turned back to them, flipping through the pages. "Otherwise there wouldn't be so many books on the subject. Tales of encounters, lore, descriptions, if you look hard enough there is actually quite a bit of information about us."

"But no one believes that stuff." Zac protested. "People think that it's just a bit of supernatural nonsense."

"Well, apparently that's not the case here now is it?" Rita asked brusquely, flipping through the book. She paused on a page and quickly read through it but then began flipping through the pages once more. "You said he had three Moon Rings? On a necklace?"

"Yeah, and-." Weilan began.

"And another trident stone." Rita muttered, "Or at least a smaller version of one."

"How did he get three Moon Rings?" Ondina demanded. "How does a human get his hands on _three_ of them? If he had just found one that would be understandable."

"Well, it's not inconceivable that he _did_ just find those three." Rita reminded them. "Mimmi, you said that he was recently hired by the Marine Park? In a Director's position?"

"That's right." She nodded. "It was so sudden. He just got there today and Dr. Ross already hired him on."

"That means that he must have exceptional people backing him." Rita told them. "Being so young, and holding such a position, generally means you have connections. _Ah,_ here it is." She turned the book around and showed them an article from two years ago. The top read National Geographic in ornate font, and at the center of the page was a group of grinning scientists standing over what appeared to be a collection of blue seaweed.

"What's this?" Cam asked curiously, beginning to read through the article.

"Wait, that guy standing there…" Evie leaned in closer, squinting her eyes. "He looks… _That's him!_ That's Sevan!" She placed a finger on the picture Sevan's chest and the others quickly confirmed that.

"Luckily for us, he has a rather uncommon name." Rita said. She brushed Evie's finger aside and gestured for the others to take a closer look. "Look at his chest, do you see something familiar?"

"That's a Moon Ring!" Ondina said, instantly recognizing the piece of jewelry. "But he only has one in that photo. Wait, why did you have this?"

"A few reasons." Rita said, turning the book back around. "The first would be, like you saw, that this young man had a Moon Ring in public display. The other was that the plant you see before you was previously thought to be extinct by humans. It's called a plant that only grows in very specific conditions. Before this article came out I had thought that only mermaids knew about where it still grew."

"Why is that such a concern?" Mimmi asked. "So they got lucky."

"It's possible." Rita allowed. She flipped through the pages a couple more times and then showed them a new picture. The picture was in color this time, and it showed the same team of scientists standing around a tidal chart. "But, take a closer look at this picture."

"No Moon Ring." Weilan said, glancing immediately to his chest where the ring should have been. "So what? He just wasn't wearing it in this picture."

"Again, it's possible." Rita agreed. "But I don't think so. It is also possible that he didn't know about mermaids at the time this picture was taken. But, considering there was only a week between the two photos, I doubt it. He clearly is very attached to the Moon Ring in the other picture."

"Okay, but what does that have to do with anything?" Zac asked, clearly not following.

"You think that a mermaid was the one who was growing that plant?" Cam asked, his eyes lighting up as he made the connection.

"Exactly." Rita nodded, closing the book and replacing it on the shelf. "If they had found a small amount of it that would have been understandable. But that much seaweed, especially of a breed of that rarity, does not come to be without help. I think that he took that Moon Ring from the mermaid who was cultivating that garden."

"How?" Ondina asked. "Where was her pod? If they saw a boat above where they were growing plants they should have gotten rid of it."

"This expedition was in the Atlantic Ocean." Rita explained, glancing meaningfully to Mimmi.

Catching the sign to begin explaining, Mimmi did just that. "Northern Mermaids aren't as… pod-oriented as you southern mermaids are. They come together when they need to, but we don't have a Mako Island there. Nothing to keep us in one area. So a lot of them sort of go out on their own to do their own thing."

"Still, how did he beat a mermaid in the water?" Cam asked, frowning and rubbing his chin with his thumb and forefinger. "I mean, I've seen you lot in the water. There's no way a human in dive gear could catch you."

"Finally, something we agree on." Ondina muttered, looking to Rita for the answer to the question.

"I truly do not know." She said simply. "There is simply too much that we do not know about this Sevan character for me to make any accurate guesses."

"What about that stone?" Zac asked suddenly. "The one that matched the trident stone?"

"What about it, Zac?" Rita asked, gesturing for him to continue.

"Well, I mean, think about it." He said, "I've seen firsthand what it can do to mermaids. It drains you of your magic, and after that's gone you aren't in real good shape. What if he used that?"

"And we know it works for humans too." Cam added, wincing as he remembered this information. It had been him who had used the trident stone against the mermaids in an effort to get a tail. Zac patted him comfortingly on the shoulder and Cam continued, "If a mermaid tried to keep him from getting to her garden and he used that stone on her, she might not have had enough juice left to get out of there."

The others fell silent as they contemplated this scenario, none of them liking what they came up with. "What do we do?" Ondina asked finally, a confident gleam in her eye. "We obviously have to stop him before he tries to do the same thing to us."

"Hold on a minute." Cam said slowly, "If I'm right, why didn't he just take the mermaid with him to the boat? I mean, come on. If he wanted to do something big, exposing mermaids as actual being real would be the best thing wouldn't it?"

"Who knows?" Rita said helplessly. "But I do agree with you Ondina, we must do something."

"This could not come at a worse time." Weilan said heavily, placing her hands on her hips. "First the water dragon, now this."

"Hey, there's an idea." Cam said, his eyes lighting up as an idea dawned on him. "Why not let him and the water dragon go at it?"

"He isn't a mermaid." Weilan reminded him with a roll of her eyes. "The water dragon wouldn't be interested in him."

"But he has three Moon Rings." Cam shot back, the corners of his mouth twisting into a smile. "That should at least give the dragon enough magic to be curious, right?"

"You know, he might have a point." Mimmi said, warming to the idea. "The dragon is drawn to mermaid magic right? Those rings will be full of magic on the full moon. If we can get him onto the water, it might be enough for the dragon to go after him."

"Hold up, we aren't trying to kill the guy." Zac protested, raising his hands to slow the pace of the conversation. "We don't even know if he wants to hurt you guys-."

"You heard him at the café!" Ondina exclaimed, clearly upset that Zac would dare try to defend Sevan. "He is after our Moon Rings! He is a danger to the pod, a pod that you promised to protect, we have to deal with him."

"Look, I'm not saying he doesn't need to be dealt with." Zac answered with as much passion. "But I am saying that we can't just let the dragon have a go at him without knowing what his deal is. If we are going to do this, we at least need to know why he is doing what he is doing. Who knows, maybe there are more people like him."

"I'm actually inclined to agree with Zac." Rita nodded her head slowly, going over the idea in her head. "It would be an immense help if we had a better understanding of our adversary. Perhaps this can be resolved without the use of force."

"So, what do we do then?" Cam asked, glancing around at the others.

And so the group began to put their heads together, running through various plans and strategies that they could employ to counter their new foe.


	4. Encounter

"Morning, Chris." Sevan said cheerfully, striding up to the dolphin pool and clapping the trainer on the shoulder good-naturedly. "How are they today?"

"Great." Chris said, smiling at the dolphins. He glanced at Sevan and the expression faltered momentarily, but it was just long enough for Sevan to catch the change. "So, listen…"

"Something on your mind?" Sevan asked, leaning on the railing and raising an eyebrow.

"What happened last night?" Chris blurted out. "At the café. After you left the others, they left in a hurry. They didn't look happy either."

Sevan fixed Chris with a long, searching look. "Tell me, Chris, how much do you know about Mimmi?" He asked finally, crossing his arms and staring the man down. "How long have you known her?"

"Well, since she started working here." Chris shrugged. "And I know a lot about her, I know what her favorite color is, her favorite food, and-."

"Yes, yes." Sevan raised a hand, forestalling the inevitable tirade of useless and trivial information that Chris had learned about Mimmi. It was all most likely false at any rate, and even if it wasn't the first few facts did not exactly merit hearing the others. "I am sure you and her are on quite good terms and what not. But, and this is me warning you as a guy not your boss, stay away from her mate. She and her little friends, they are dangerous."

"Dangerous?" Chris barked out an incredulous laugh and shook his head. "Mimmi? No way. Sorry mate, but you just got here. Where do you get off making accusations like that? Mimmi is like the sweetest girl here, everyone likes her. We have all known her for ages. You are the one we just met. If anyone here is dangerous, it is you."

Sevan was taken aback by the forceful tone that Chris had taken, but he did not show it outwardly. He painted a cool smile on his face and narrowed his eyes slightly. "You are absolutely right." He said with all the charm of a snake. "I shouldn't have made such an accusation. Please, forgive me."

"No problem," Chris answered, clearly thrown by the abrupt apology and the manner it had been delivered. "Just don't say stuff like that anymore alright?"

"Of course." Sevan said smoothly, rising from his leaning position. He patted Chris on the shoulder again and said, "And, as for what happened last night, let's just say that we had a… disagreement on something very personal to both parties."

"What about?" Chris asked, frowning with curiosity.

"Why don't you ask Mimmi?" Sevan suggested innocently. "It's not really my place to say you know, and I am sure that she will tell you. I'm going to go check on some of the other animals now. Catch you later, Chris."

His mind was working furiously as Sevan strode away from Chris, his eyes narrowed with concentration. It was very clear that the human had, for whatever reason, fallen for the mermaid and, unless he was very mistaken, it appeared that Mimmi may have fallen for the human. Sevan's lips twitched with the ghost of a disbelieving smile and he shook his head slightly. "Hey, Sevan!" Dr. Ross's voice carried across the bridge where Sevan had been walking, looking into the water at a thresher shark. He glanced over and saw Dr. Ross beckoning for him.

"Oh, here we go." He muttered, rolling his shoulder in preparation for some sort of argument. He strode over to Ross with a curious smile on his face, the picture of politeness. "Something on your mind, Doc?"

"Well, as a matter of fact yes." Dr. Ross nodded, "We had another call about this supposed sea monster. Turns out it might not be just the water spout my guys saw. Another local boy, one I have known for a long time actually, he swears up and down he saw some sort of crazy creature out by the reef. Figured, since you asked about research and all that, I would have you go and see if you can find something that they boys couldn't."

"Sounds good to me." Sevan said, all thoughts of mermaids put aside for the moment. "I assume the Marine Park has its own research boat?"

"Well, it's not as good as what you are used to." Dr. Ross warned him, "But yes, we have a little tinny we use for cases like this. Will that be alright?"

"Oh, it's fine by me." Sevan reassured him. "Is it alright if I go alone? I've always been more of a solo show. If I'm not back by sundown, send someone looking for me."

"If it was anyone else I would say no." Dr. Ross said slowly, still clearly considering the idea. "We usually institute a two man dive rule. That way you got someone watching your back if something goes wrong."

"But I'm not anyone else." Sevan smiled knowingly. "I'll be back a little after sundown. If there is really any merit to this sea monster thing, I'll find it. Besides, I've been wanting to do some diving around Mako anyways."

"Well, the gear is all onboard the boat." Dr. Ross said, clearly unhappy with letting Sevan go alone. "I trust that I don't need to explain how to set up the tanks?"

"They are charged, right?" Sevan asked.

"They are. Both of them."

"Then we are good." He smiled expectantly and cracked his knuckles expectantly. "Don't worry about me, Doc, I've been doing this for years now. Where's the boat at?"

"It's docked over by the boardwalk. She's called 'The Expedition', you can't miss her." Dr. Ross reached into his pocket and withdrew a set of keys, holding them out in front of him. "Be good to her. And be safe out there. If you are even a minute later than an hour after sunset, I will be sending Chris and Karl after you."

"Don't worry about me." Sevan said, taking the keys and dropping them into his own pocket. He turned on his heel and began to stride away from the doctor. "I'll be back before you know it."

Sevan whistled a cheerful tune as he walked, his mind racing with possibilities as to what this sea monster could be. Most likely some trick by the mermaids to scare away locals from their home. It wouldn't be the first time he had seen such a thing. He reached for the sea crystal in his pocket out of sheer habit and smiled as his fingers came into contact with its rough surface. If there was anything magical afoot here, he had absolute confidence that the crystal would be more than effective in putting an end to that. He was nearly out of the park when he suddenly got an uncomfortable sense that something was following him. He whipped his head around, searching for any sign of someone suspicious. After a few moments of looking he shrugged and continued out of the park, slowly pulling the sea crystal out of his pocket. It never hurt to be prepared after all.

When he got to the docks, he saw that Dr. Ross had not been mistaken. _The Expedition_ was one of the first boats on the dock, bobbing gently in the water. Sevan stepped lightly into the watercraft and begin a quick walk through of the boat, ensuring that everything was in working order. He ran the outboard for a few minutes, allowing any problems that the engine might have to show themselves. He was pleased to find that Ross had not been mistaken and that two tanks, plus two full sets of dive gear, were properly stored away in one of the boat's compartments. He checked the tanks and nodded when he saw that they both read eighty five percent air. Satisfied that everything was good enough for his purposes, Sevan cast the mooring lines off the boat and took his place at the wheel. He advanced slowly out of the harbor, only opening up the throttle once he was safely out of range of the other boats. Mako was farther than he had expected and the ride to the island subsequently took longer as well. As he rode, Sevan kept scanning the sea around him for any sign of what could have been construed as a sea monster.

When he stopped the boat and set off the anchor, a few hundred yards away from the shores of Mako, Sevan got right to work getting ready for his dive. He pulled on the dive gear with all the efficiency and speed that only experience could bring about, and sat on the edge of the boat. He winced as the suit caused the rings around his neck to dig into his chest and he quickly pulled them out from under the material, letting them dangle from his neck. He had placed the sea crystal in a dive pouch that now hung, easily accessed, at his waist. Affixing the mouthpiece and the goggles, Sevan tested the air flow for a few breaths before letting himself fall back into the water. As always, the first few moments he was beneath the surface were euphoric. Being in the territory of his enemy always brought a rush of adrenaline to him, no matter where in the world he was diving. He kicked his fins and swam down a few feet, examining his surroundings. The ocean teemed with life around Mako and Sevan was pleased to see several species of fish swimming in and out of the reef. As he swam, keeping low to the sea floor, he constantly checked the area around him in case any of the mermaids, or merman, from last night were in the area. He had no idea what effect, if any, the sea crystal would have on the merman. Worst case scenario would be that the crystal had no effect at all. But Sevan had planned for that eventuality with the other pouch that hung adjacent to the one with the crystal in it.

He swam for what seemed like hours, quickly exhausting his first tank within the first, and from there he began to free dive. He ditched the dive suit as it only would have impeded him. Free diving took a lot of energy and anything that restricted his movements had been dropped. He limited these dives to two to three minutes apiece before returning to the surface and regaining his breath. His constant exploration had given him the ability to hold his breath for up to four minutes, but he didn't allow himself to dive for that long unless it was an extreme case. Each consecutive turned up nothing, not so much as even a shred of evidence as to a sea monster, much less a mermaid.

As Sevan finished up his most recent dive he broke the surface with a frustrated sigh. If nothing else he had learned that discovery took time, especially when he was covering such a broad area. For the past couple hours he had forgone his search of a sea monster and had focused his efforts on looking for signs of the mermaids that lived here. He had found nothing. Not so much as a single sea garden or a grotto filled with treasure, both of which were frequently referenced in every scrap of lore he had read about mermaids. He had not yet had the chance to interrogate one of the accursed fish-women, which left him woefully uninformed, but he had learned enough from the readings to know how to find them. He glanced up at the sky and sighed as he saw that the sun had begun to set. He had been diving for far longer than he had thought. He glanced around for the boat and, upon seeing it, quickly swam to the craft and pulled himself inside. He toweled off his upper body and picked up his phone, selecting the number for Dr. Ross's personal cell phone.

The doctor answered on the third ring, sounding none too pleased. "Sevan!" He barked, causing the young man to hold the phone a foot away from his phone. "Where have you been?"

"Diving." He answered, speaking a bit louder than necessary in response to being shouted at. "I'm just calling to tell you that I am fine. Don't worry about me. I'm going to go down a few more times and then I will head back."

"Look, it's getting late." Dr. Ross said, his voice now much more modulated. "Just take the boat back. Don't worry about coming back to the Park tonight, everyone is already gone. I'm only here because I wanted to make sure you were alright."

"I'm fine." Sevan said. "Sorry about making you wait up. Like I said, I'll head back soon. I just want to make sure that this… sea monster or whatever it is, isn't nocturnal. If it is, that might explain some things."

"Like I said before, be careful." Dr. Ross warned. "Mako is a shark hotspot at night."

"Noted." Sevan told him. "I'll see you tomorrow." He didn't wait for Dr. Ross to respond, hanging up the phone and tossing it onto the boat's dash. He glanced up at the sky and sighed. Night time was great for exploration, if one had the proper equipment. Underwater lights were a necessity for any close inspection work. He took one more deep breath and stepped onto the side of the boat, using the boat's canopy as an anchor. He looked over the water and, after taking a deep breath, dove in. Overhead, the light of the full moon began to shine down over the water. Sevan, who had just gone below the surface, did not see it as a spot of water in the distance began to bubble and shine.

He dove down deeper than he usually did, the Moon Rings flat against his chest as he moved. He had just reached the sand when all three of them started to glow in unison. He glanced down at his chest in surprise. _What the hell is this?_ He demanded silently, bringing the rings up to closer examine them.

The light provided by the moon was minimal at best, but Sevan noticed the slight shift when that light was dimmed. He glanced upwards and his eyes widened as he beheld a sight he simply could not process. Hanging in the water above him, staring down at him with an ancient hunger, was a dragon that seemed entirely composed of water.


	5. Reaction

Though it wasn't more than a few seconds that Sevan and the dragon hung suspended in the water, staring one another down, it felt like an eternity passed by. Sevan could not bring himself to turn away, not believing what his eyes were showing him. The dragon stared down at him impassively, an ancient hunger flickering in its eyes. Drawing upon every last ounce of his willpower Sevan's hand reached into one of his pouches and withdrew the sea crystal, brandishing it before him. _Mermaid magic._ He told himself bracingly. The sea crystal, responding to his intent, glowed brightly for just a second before fading back to its normal color. _Not good._

The dragon seemed to recoil ever so slightly when the crystal glowed, and its maw twitched into a snarl when the light faded. A bright light began to build in the dragon's chest and Sevan quickly understood just how outmatched he was. He thrust out the crystal again, silently willing and begging for it to do something against the magical creature. The crystal remained ineffective however, and the light that had been in the dragon's chest traveled up to its maw before a stream of what looked like some manner of water spewed forth. It rushed towards Sevan quickly, faster than he could have ever hoped to respond, and when the water hit him he felt pain like he never had before. It was as though, instead of fire, the water dragon had breathed scalding hot water at him. Sevan instantly began to twitch and writhe, his skin searing. He fought desperately for the surface, frantically attempting to get away from the dragon and its scalding breath. But try as he might, Sevan could not break the surface. He thrashed in the water, never giving up the attempt, but it was to no avail. His vision began to grow dark as his lungs begged and cried out for air. Lights danced at the edges of his vision as his attempt to escape the dragon grew weaker and weaker. Just when it seemed as though he would not be able to escape, that he would drown and die here, his arm broke the surface of the water. One last surge of adrenaline flowed through him and Sevan surfaced, drawing in a breath that was equal parts water and air. As he began to cough violently, he wasted no time in going for the boat which was, mercifully, only a few yards away. He felt the water begin to bubble around him once more and he heard something surface behind him. Grabbing onto the gunwale of the boat Sevan heaved himself over the side and collapsed into the bottom of the boat.

His entire body burned in agony though, upon a quick examination of his arms, he discovered that his flesh seemed to be intact. There were no burns, lacerations, or anything of the sort. The sound of something large moving through the water towards the boat brought Sevan back to his senses and he weakly crawled to the front of the boat where the anchor line was. Thankfully his experience in the field had left him with the knowledge that, occasionally, a quick escape from an area was necessary and pulling up the anchor was time that could not be wasted. Before every dive he left a knife right by the anchor, which he now utilized by cutting the rope and freeing the boat. Water began to trickle over his head and when he looked up he saw the dragon's head directly over him. The beast opened its mouth and more of the magical fire spewed forth. Sevan dove back down the length of the boat, praying that the fire would not damage the boat too much. The flame missed him, though narrowly, and he wasted no time in turning the boat's key and starting the watercraft. He did not wait to see what the dragon had done following its second round of magical fire, opting instead to gun the outboard and get as far away from the beast as he possibly could. Only when he was certain that he had put enough distance between he and the dragon did he finally slow the boat slightly and glance around to look. He immediately wished he hadn't. A bright blue spot in the water was rapidly closing on him and Sevan paled when he realized that he was being chased by the beast. He gunned the engine again, not slowing down until he was in the harbor. He barely slowed enough for the boat to avoid grave damage when he pulled into the dock. As he leapt out he grabbed one of the mooring lines, quickly tied it to the metal cleat of the boat, and then beat a hasty retreat just as the dragon began to rise out of the water. When Sevan was certain he was well and truly far enough from the water so that the dragon, or its breath, could not reach him he turned around and glared at the beast. He reached down instinctively to where he kept the sea crystal stone and experienced a sinking feeling when he realized that the stone was not there. The dragon opened and closed its mouth several times, as if in frustration that its prey had eluded it, before sinking back into the sea. Sevan watched in mounting anger as the bright blue light that was the dragon made its way out of the harbor and disappeared into deeper waters.

Suddenly exhausted and still in a great deal of pain, Sevan fell back onto the grass and blew out a sigh as he stared up at the sky. He examined his arms more thoroughly and, again, found that there was no visible sign of injury anywhere on them. He sat up and repeated the inspection on his abdomen and his legs, finding the same result each time. The pain had receded slightly, but it was still very much present. It reminded him of the time he had been handling a freshwater stingray and the barb had somehow gotten past the protective gloves he had been wearing and cut his palm. The pain had been similar to what he imagined being burned alive was like. Currently his whole body felt like that, and only his sheer stubbornness allowed him to continue moving. "What the hell was that?" Sevan demanded, collapsing back onto the grass, his arms and legs spread-eagle. "The stone didn't do anything. Mermaid magic is useless around that. So what does that mean?" Sevan mulled over the problem in his mind for a long time and came up with two probable answers. The first was that the mermaids had somehow managed to find a way to overcome the effects of the stone which, if correct, meant that he was again at a very serious disadvantage. The other possibility was that the dragon was _not_ the work of the mermaids and was instead indeed some sort of sea creature that lived in the islands around Mako. Sevan had certainly never seen anything like it, though he had done extensive research into all manner of mythical water beings. But dragons, sea monsters in legends, were always known to be denizens of extremely deep water. They rarely surfaced, and when they did it was only to attack a passing ship that had the misfortune of entering their territory. Most human skeptics considered these attacks to be mere sailors' tall talk and dismissed them out of hand, explaining the recorded attacks as run ins with pirates or an occasional siting of a giant squid tentacle. In truth, Sevan had long been among those numbers who questioned the validity of these sailors' tales. Even when he had discovered the truth of mermaids he had been skeptical of tales of sea monsters.

"A water dragon, huh?" He muttered to himself, sitting up with a wince. The rings rubbed uncomfortably against his chest and he pulled them out from where they had managed to worm themselves under his suit. They tumbled out over the neck of his dive suit and dangled lightly from his neck. The light of the full moon struck them and they began to glow slightly, as they always did under the light of such a moon, though Sevan was not entirely sure as to why they elicited such an effect from lunar patterns. Again, he had a lot to ask a mermaid whenever-. It was at that moment Sevan stopped himself short, his mind suddenly racing with possibilities. He hated mermaids, despised them for what they had done and taken from him, but this dragon could very easily to prove to be a much bigger threat. He had undertaken his journey to eradicate the magic from mermaids so that no one else would ever have to go through the hardships he went through, but if a bigger threat had appeared he knew that he had to put aside his hatred. Temporarily.

Sevan checked his watch and narrowed his eyes. Just past nine. He had done a bit of investigating work into the café, it was clear that the mermaids and merman frequented the place, and had memorized the schedule that it stayed open. He had forty five minutes before closing, which was perfect. Most of the customers, if not all, would be gone and David would be closing up the shop. Perfect opportunity for him to stop over and inquire about a chat. He was certain that the mermaids would have information on the dragon. In addition he was sure that they would jump at the chance for a truce, no matter for how short a length of time it was going to last for.

Sevan slowly got up and dusted himself off. He glanced back to the boat and contemplated grabbing his clothes but dismissed the notion almost immediately, stifling a shiver. He had no desire to be anywhere near where that accursed dragon could potentially get to him. He turned decisively back in the direction of the café and set off, his eyes narrowed and jaw set in a determined line.


	6. Meeting

Sevan sincerely doubted that David could have shown more surprise at his arrival if he had actually tried. The owner of the café turned to look as the door opened and Sevan stepped through, quickly dropping the tray he had been carrying and letting his jaw hang open in shock. "Probably not a great idea to break all of your stuff." Sevan advised, pulling a chair out from the table nearest the door and sliding into it. He rested his elbows on the table and laced his fingers, placing his chin upon them. He eyed David for a long minute, mildly amused that his entrance could elicit such a reaction from the café owner. Like _he_ was the dangerous one in this situation. "I am aware that you have a… friendship with the mermaids and that merman." Sevan began pleasantly, his voice smooth and pleasant. "I would be very grateful if you could ask them to come here. I would like to have a meeting."

"Why would they-?" David began, his voice clearly rising to anger.

Sevan quickly held up a single finger to forestall any further objections. It was always better to forestall any argument before it could be finished. "I assume you are going to object to calling them on the foundation that there is no guarantee that I haven't something nefarious in the works?" Sevan inquired, his voice still the essence of politeness. He lifted his chin from his hands and pushed to his feet. He spread his arms at shoulder height and turned in a slow circle, allowing David to take in the full measure of him. "Worry not, I don't have my sea crystal with me at this moment. I simply wish to discuss a matter that I think merits our combined efforts before we resume our battle against one another."

"What matter?" David asked finally, his eyes still narrowed in suspicion.

"The water dragon." Sevan answered simply, retaking his seat and resting his chin on his hands once more. He closed his eyes and flicked his fingertips in dismissal. "Now please call them, I don't think that we have much time to waste in this matter and I am fairly certain that they must have more information than I do on the subject."

After a few moments' hesitation he heard departing footsteps and guessed that David had gone into a back room to make the call. The second that the door closed signaling Sevan's correct assumption he released the pent up breath he had been holding and put a hand to his aching chest. His entire body hurt, but his chest seemed to be where the pain was the worst. It had significantly lessened, in fact it seemed as though the drier he got the less pain he was in, but it was still very much there. He sincerely hoped that it was nothing more than a side effect of the dragon's fire and that it would fade completely in time. If not it would be a severe handicap in his fight against the mermaids and that would not be something he could afford.

He quickly crossed his arms when he heard David returning and affixed his politely cold smile back onto his face. "I assume everything went well?" Sevan inquired.

"They'll be here." David said haltingly, "But Ondina said if there is any trouble she will turn you into a goldfish."

"So Ondina is the leader of the mermaids then?" Sevan nodded, noting this information. "Interesting. But, as I said, I want no trouble. I merely wish to speak to them on the matter of the water dragon. Tell me, have you seen it?"

"Yeah, my brother and I were out fishing when we saw it." David said, clearly hesitant to give away any more inadvertent information. "It knocked around our boat a little bit but then it left."

"It didn't pursue you?" Sevan raised an eyebrow at this information. It explained quite a few things, such as why sightings were so few. If the dragon chased every watercraft that it saw there would have been many more sightings and quite a few scared locals. But it also left a few questions still unanswered. Why did the beast bother him, moreover why did it give chase? It was not adding up. There had to be something else, something that he was not considering.

The sound of the doors to the café opening quickly pulled Sevan from his thoughts and he turned around. As expected, standing just inside the café's doorway was the same group of people who had been there earlier, save for David who was standing somewhere behind Sevan. "What do _you_ want?" The blonde haired one, Ondina, asked her Moon Ring already emitting a menacing glow at her side. At least it wasn't shining as brightly as it would when they used magic. That, considering Sevan's immediate lack of sea crystal availability, would be a very big problem.

"I would be willing to bet what I want, for the moment, is very similar to what you want." Sevan answered smoothly. He got to his feet with fluid grace and waved an arm over his table, inviting them to sit. "Please. I would be willing to bet that we have much to discuss."

"You would lose that bet." Ondina snapped, her ring flaring a bit brighter for just a moment. "We have nothing to discuss with a thief like you."

"Thief." Sevan repeated the word, as though testing it. "I suppose I have been called worse, so all things considered I will allow that to pass this time."

Manipulating conversations so that they ended in his favor, particularly when his opponents were not certain who ended the better, was a skill he had long since perfected. It had proven extremely useful for him especially when he was attempting to maneuver himself onto an expedition he really had no place being on. In the beginning of his journey he had relied on the skill so heavily he had polished it to a razor sharp edge. Lately though he had very little opportunity to use it, so he enjoyed flexing the skill when he could. Judging by the confused and suspicious looks that the mermaids, merman, and the human gave him as they warily sat down at his table Sevan correctly assumed that his ploy had been effective.

"What do you want?" Zac asked bluntly, once everyone had been seated at the table.

"As I said, most likely the same thing you do for the moment." Sevan said, leaning forward slightly and lacing his fingers together. "That being, to rid ourselves of this accursed water dragon."

He waited patiently for a sharp intake of breath, or something to let him know that they were surprised he had learned of the beast, but when none was forthcoming Sevan raised an eyebrow in slight confusion. "What could you possibly do to get rid of it?" Mimi asked, half-skeptically and half-venomously. "You are a human."

"A human who has access to documents and books that I doubt you have even heard of." Sevan answered with icy politeness, his eyes as hard as his voice. He paused and seemed to catch himself as he regained his indifferent façade. "That being said, I sincerely doubt this dragon is the first of its kind. Even if it is, I am sure you are aware that I specialize in finding ways to get rid of evil creatures."

"Are you calling us evil?" Ondina asked hotly, taking a pace forward.

"Yes," Sevan answered, clearly pleased. "I am. Thank you for catching on."

"Did you come here just to insult us?" Zac demanded.

"Clearly not considering I offered my assistance in dealing with this dragon." Sevan rolled his eyes and removed his chin from his hands and leaned back in the chair. "But I can see now that you have no intention of entertaining my offers of any manner of alliance no matter how temporary it may be."

"Sorry, but who even said we needed your help?" Evie asked incredulously, clearly affronted by Sevan's presumptuous manner. "We have magic-."

"And, tell me, if that magic was so effective against the dragon why haven't you gotten rid of it yet?" Sevan interjected, rising from his seat smoothly and running a hand through his hair. He waited for them to answer, but when none was immediately forthcoming he nodded as though expecting this. "I thought as much. When I ran into the beast tonight I noted that it was made entirely of what looked to be water. My suspicions were confirmed when it chased me. Except for that glowing blue light that gives it away, the creature is made entirely of water. My guess is that your magic is next to useless against it."

"How do you know all of this?" Ondina asked, clearly shocked by how much Sevan was aware of. "Where did you get those three Moon Rings? What happened to the mermaids they belonged to? _Who are you_?"

Sevan actually gave a genuine smile at the last question and shrugged easily. "Just someone who knows a lot about something no one knows anything about." He said easily. He crossed to the counter and pulled a pen from where it rested beside the register and grabbed a napkin with his other hand. He scrawled his name and phone number across the napkin and turned back to the table he had been sitting at. He placed the napkin in the center and met the eyes of every mermaid, human, and merman in the room. "If you change your mind, let me know." He directed them, nodding to the napkin and subsequently his number. "My offer for a truce stands. So long as this dragon is around and threatening the locals there is little reason for us to expend our energies with our battle when that can easily be put on a temporary hold whilst we sort out this problem."

Without another word Sevan exited the café, leaving the group to discuss the meeting amongst themselves. Outside a light rain had begun and Sevan stifled a groan when the first drop ran down the back of his neck. It felt like the sky was spilling forth liquid fire rather than rain, and it burned just like it. But he did not run, not allowing the sign of weakness to dilute the merpeoples' opinion of him. Whatever the dragon's fire had done to him, he needed to figure out a way to cure himself of it as soon as he could. If he didn't, hunting mermaids would be next to impossible. He could not afford a weakness as exploitable as water.

Forgive me my readers, once again I have gone on hiatus. Regrettably life has been busy of late but I hope to rectify that problem as soon as possible. In the meantime please enjoy this. Cheers, Hallowed


	7. A Curious Ailment

Sevan's alarm had him reaching for a hidden knife he kept under his pillow before he realized what the source of the noise was. He blew out a sigh and closed the book he had spread out on his knees, dropping the knife onto the old leather cover. He leaned back and stared up at the ceiling, his eyes protesting as he kept them open. He dumped the centuries old book onto the bed and winced as the leather cover made a cracking sound. "I really need to start being more careful with these," Sevan noted as he rubbed his eyes and slowly swung his feet off the bed. "Getting my hands on them was hard enough, replacing them would be impossible."

He had spent most of the night going through his horde of lore regarding every sea creature that mankind had ever written about in search of some reference to the water dragon. The sailors of olde had referenced many sea serpents, Sevan had learned not to discount even the most outlandish of tales as they were often the ones that held the most truth, but none of what he had thus far gone through made a single mention to a dragon composed entirely of water. He had gone through books written by sailors who had sailed every corner of the seas, some of which were found years later in sunken wrecks, but nothing promising had yet made itself known. Sevan gathered up the books he had strewn across his bed and carefully carried them to the shelf he had appropriated for them. He had rented out a small house by the side of the river that fed into the ocean, conveniently located only two miles from the Marine Park.

Checking his watch Sevan sighed and shook his head. If he didn't leave soon he would be late and, excellent resume or not, he was fairly certain that being late to work on his first week would not be a good way to keep himself in the doctor's good graces. With a second resigned sigh he quickly shrugged off the clothes he had never changed out of yesterday and donned a new set. He didn't have enough time to shower, and with the way that water currently felt like liquid fire on his skin, he did not particularly want to go to the marine park with such pain etched upon his face. Working there was strenuous enough, especially when it rained randomly or the animals inadvertently splashed him as he passed by their enclosures. Each time that he was exposed to water it took every ounce of willpower for him to keep his face neutral and not cry out in pain. Whatever the dragon had done to him, the effects did not seem to be diminishing in the slightest even as time continued to flow by. He had managed to keep the affliction hidden thus far, he had to for a multitude of reasons but namely that it seemed Mimi was well-acquainted with seemingly every single employee at the marine park. Such connection ensured that any potential gossip at the new director showing signs of weakness would invariably cross her path and, while he was not hunting her at the moment, such a weakness could be easily exploited.

As Sevan departed the house he glanced up at the sky, squinting in the early morning sunlight and gave a relieved sigh as he saw there was not even a single cloud in the sky. Though it did not promise that the day would be without small showers, it was certainly a promising sign. He closed the door behind himself and locked it. He had scoped out the neighborhood before choosing his place of residence and was not entirely concerned with theft, but with what he had inside one could never be too careful. He carefully stored his key in his wallet and set off towards the marine park, humming a quiet tune to himself as he walked. It was no stretch to say that the walk to work was his favorite time of the day. Few people were up and so he seemingly had the entire neighborhood to himself.

But the walk took no more than half an hour and as such he was soon passing through the Marine Park's employee entrance and pulling on his staff shirt. "Morning Sevan," A very chipper Dr. Ross's voice said from over his shoulder.

Sevan slowly closed his locker and painted a picture of politeness on his face as he turned to regard the doctor. "Dr. Ross, how are you doing today?"

"Oh, very well thank you." He said, crossing his arms and smiling. "And yourself?"

"Hanging by a thread." Sevan said with a small chuckle. "Unusual to see you so early, something on your mind?"

"As a matter of fact, there is." Dr. Ross said, the simple statement filling Sevan with a feeling of inexplicable dread. "You see one of our dolphins has been acting… erratically lately. Chris is at the end of his rope. We separated her from the rest of them in case it turns out to be some disease or something like that."

"So you want me to look into it?" Sevan asked, his voice carefully neutral.

"Yes, if you wouldn't mind." Dr. Ross's face lost some of its joy and he frowned slightly. "I've already looked into it myself but I can't make heads or tails of her. She seems healthy, but she isn't acting like it."

"Yeah, sure." Sevan gave a slightly off reassuring smile. "Do you have any wet suits?"

"We do…" Ross said slowly, his eyes narrowing slightly. "But it's only a dip in the pool, you don't need one do you? I was reading some of your references and they all agree that water doesn't bother you in the slightest. Hot or cold."

"Of course." Sevan said with a painfully forced smile. "I'll get right on it. Any ideas at all?"

"It might be some sort of parasite attacking her brain causing her to lose it." Ross shrugged again. "Other than that I don't have a single bloody clue."

"If it was a parasite the others would be exhibiting at least some signs too." Sevan mused, mulling over the problem in his mind. "Even if they weren't infected, dolphins have a sixth sense about this kind of thing. They would be trying to push her out of the pod."

"That's the thing, they are trying to get back into the pen with her." Ross offered, "They seem upset, but with her acting like that we can't afford to risk it."

"I see where you are coming from. What pen do you have her in?" Sevan asked, mentally steeling himself for what he had to endure. At the very least it would be a good test to find out just how far this pain stretched. Showering was hard enough, but he was able to bear it. In fact the more time he spent under the water the more he grew accustomed to the pain.

"In the private pen." Ross informed him, unfolding his arms. "I've restricted access so that only Chris can get back there."

"Alright, I'll get on it." Sevan said, pushing past the doctor without another word. His mind was pulled in a different directions as he considered every single ailment he knew of that would cause the symptoms that the good doctor had described to him. None of them fit, especially considering the fact that the pod was clearly still trying to keep her in their fold. If she was truly sick they would have long since abandoned her.

He made his way slowly to the back pool where they were keeping the supposedly sick dolphin and gazed into the pool where the aquatic mammal was once he arrived there. True to what the doctor had told him, she was clearly agitated. She swam back and forth in the pool, occasionally bumping into the grating that separated her from the rest of the pod. Sevan crouched by the edge of the water and frowned. "What's the matter pretty girl?" He asked quietly, his voice smooth and reassuring. "Why are you acting up?"

The dolphin fired off a rapid round of clicks in apparent answer and then went back to swimming rapidly around the pool. Sevan frowned and locked the door to the enclosure, ensuring that he was alone with the distressed animal. With a resigned shy he stripped off his shirt and shoes before hopping into the shallow end of the enclosure. He gave the faintest of groans as the water seared at his skin. He braced himself against the side as his vision momentarily swam. He stayed like that for several minutes while he accustomed himself to the pain, begging silently for it to simply evaporate. Unfortunately the pain remained obstinate, remaining as prevalent as ever. Only when he was certain that he could bear it did he push off the wall and begin to move through the water to the dolphin. He stopped when the water was at chest level, not wanting to push the limits of his pain tolerance any further than he had to. The dolphin, seemingly sensing his intention to help, swam to him and allowed him to run his hands up and down the length of her body. She fired off another round of clicks, seemingly desperate for him to understand her.

"I know something is wrong pretty girl," He told her consolingly, "I'm trying to figure it out."

The dolphin moved her head up and down as though understanding him, but she inadvertently displaced the water as well. The liquid splashed up Sevan's body and a small amount hit his throat, burning the flesh. He gave a small cry of pain and retreated a rapid pace out of sheer instinct. The dolphin shot off again, leaving Sevan to deal with the pain and his findings of her physical examination.

"What are you doing to her?" An angry, breathy, voice demanded from behind him.

With deliberate and careful slowness he turned in the water to regard Mimi as she glared at him from the side. "Clearly I am subjecting her to a slow torture designed to elicit specific emotional reactions of pain and sorrow." Sevan said. When Mimi's eyes widened in horror he sighed and shook his head. "That was sarcasm. I'm trying to figure out what's wrong with her."

" _You_ are?" Mimi asked disbelievingly. "I-."

"Find that hard to believe?" He finished, waving a hand dismissively. "I don't really care. Believe me or not, I need to figure out what's wrong with her."

"Why do you care?" Mimi asked suspiciously.

"You know, I think you might have a very wrong grasp about my character." Sevan told her as he turned back to the dolphin and held out a hand. She swam back to him and he ran a hand up and down her side, feeling for any contusion or swelling. He paused around her abdomen, frowning slightly as he pressed down. The dolphin gave a cry of pain and bolted away sending a stream of water directly into his face, and subsequently his eyes. An odd groaning sound escaped his teeth as his eyes began to burn. He could still see, thankfully, but even blinking brought fresh hell. He resisted the urge to rub his forearm across his eyes, and thus getting them wetter. He was only barely aware as Mimi began to speak again.

"What's wrong with you?" She asked, half-suspicion, half something he couldn't identify making up her voice. "Are you hurt?"

"I'm fine." Sevan snapped. "Worry about her, she's the one who is in trouble."

Mimi was silent for a few minutes as she stared him down. Sevan glared at her over his shoulder, not willing to trust her in the event that she pulled some sort of magical attack against him. "You don't have a trident stone on you, right?" She asked finally.

"A what?" Sevan asked irritably.

"The blue stone you had!"

"You mean sea crystal?" Sevan asked, rolling his eyes. "I already told you, I have put our feud on hold. That dragon is a far more pressing concern. We can get back to our fight after that beast is put down."

"Okay." Mimi said, clearly having decided something.

Sevan returned his attention to the dolphin when he heard a splash from behind him. No water got on him, thankfully, but his eyes widened in shock when Mimi surfaced beside him. His eyes narrowed in suspicion and she mirrored his expression. "A bit risky, showing your tail like this isn't it?" Sevan said sarcastically. "Someone might see you."

"You locked the door." Mimi reminded him.

"How did _you_ get in here then?"

"I've been in here before you." Mimi snapped. "I was making sure you weren't hurting her."

Sevan rolled his eyes and nodded at the dolphin as she swam between them. "What's she saying?" He asked, eager to get out of the water and away from the mermaid.

"How do you know I can speak dolphin?" Mimi demanded.

"Oh please, every piece of lore, even the stuff that is dead wrong, gets that right. I know you can speak to sea animals." Sevan shrugged. "But enough of that. What's her problem?"

Mimi was silent as she listened to the dolphin speak, and Sevan was startled to see a smile of pure joy appear on her face. "We need to get the doors open, now!" Mimi said.

"She was separated for a reason." Sevan reminded her. "You are going to need to tell me what's going on."

"She needs to be with her mother!" Mimi explained urgently, "Dolphins-."

"Dolphins prefer to be around their mother when they give birth." Sevan said, immediately understanding the connection. "Of course, it all fits."

"You need to get to Ross and tell him to open the gate!" Mimi ordered him desperately. "She's very scared, she needs to be with her pod."

"On it." Sevan said, hurrying to the edge of the pool and then hesitating. He glanced back to the mermaid and sighed. "Be sure to cloak yourself. Once that gate opens the public will be able to see you, and I don't want a mermaid to be the next exhibit here."

Mimi seemed shocked by his sudden compassion and nodded, turning invisible with a wave of her hand. Sevan jogged to the where the control panel was and was about to punch the gate's open button when Mimi interjected, "Don't you need to tell Dr. Ross?"

"If he has a problem, he can fire me." Sevan said, hammering the open button with one finger and watching with a smile on his face as the dolphin jetted through and happily rejoined her pod. He breathed a sigh of relief and stared up at the sky. "That was close, if she wasn't with them it wouldn't have been an easy birth."

"You actually cared about her." Mimi, still invisible, asked from where she swam in the pool.

Sevan didn't answer except for lifting one shoulder in a dismissive shrug and strolling out of the private pool to report to Ross his findings.


	8. Fired

"I never would have guessed it." Dr. Ross remarked as he and Sevan watched the new dolphin mother and her calf swimming slowly around the arena. "But I suppose it all makes sense."

Sevan bit back the retort that came immediately to mind and shrugged. "Just a matter of misunderstanding."

"It's a good thing we had you around." Dr. Ross remarked, patting Sevan's shoulder in a gesture of companionship. "How did you figure this one out, I have to know?"

 _I had a mermaid speak to her._ Sevan thought dryly, hiding a sardonic grin. To Ross he merely shrugged once more and said, "Just a hunch."

"You let the dolphin out… on a hunch?" Dr. Ross asked, a very different tone entering his voice now.

Sevan sensed the aggression in the doctor's voice and slowly turned to him, his eyes narrowing dangerously. "That's right." He said, a note of challenge in his voice. "And it paid off. You certainly weren't going to do anything about it."

"That's not the point!" Dr. Ross said, outraged at Sevan's lackadaisical view. "If she wasn't pregnant, if it was something more serious-."

"If it was something more serious the other dolphins would already be infected." Sevan snarled, jabbing one finger at the gate that led to the private pool. "Those are bars, not a solid barrier. Water from the private pool and the main pool can still go back and forth! If it was some sort of pathogen or bacteria, or anything like that, the water would have carried it to the others!"

"Don't you raise your voice to me!" Dr. Ross barked, advancing a step towards Sevan.

The younger man didn't back down, instead matching the advance forward until their chests were nearly touching. "Don't blame me for fixing a problem!" Sevan countered, his body tense and his hands slowly opening and closing. "If you didn't want the problem fixed, you shouldn't have put me on it."

Sevan felt hands on his shoulders and, very abruptly, he and Dr. Ross were pulled apart. Sevan didn't break eye contact from the doctor as Karl and Chris stood between them. "Easy gents, it's all over now the dolphin is fine." Chris said smoothly, clearly trying to deescalate the situation.

"You have a lot of nerve, criticizing me in my Marine Park." Ross said, pointing one finger at Sevan. "I don't care how many people say you are a prodigy. I don't want someone with your attitude working with my animals."

"Oh, that's fine." Sevan said sarcastically. "With someone like you in charge, I'm pretty sure your animals won't last very long."

"OUT OF MY PARK!" Ross roared, startling Chris and Karl and whomever was holding Sevan's shoulders.

Sevan turned around and met Mimi's eyes, clearly confused as to what was happening, and pushed past her. He strode into the locker room and quickly collected his things before exiting the park without a look back. Once he was outside of the gates he took a steadying breath and looked into the sky as he released it slowly. He was fairly calm, it was not the first time he had been fired, but it was the first time he had been fired for actually _saving_ an animal. "Ah, well." Sevan popped his neck and stuck his hands into his pockets. "Now what do I do?"

In truth it was not entirely a bad thing he had been fired, he had more than enough funds saved up from multiple expeditions to sustain him for a while in addition to a very extensive collection of rare books he owned. Naturally none of them contained mermaid lore, those he found to be quite invaluable, but they would still fetch quite the sum to the right bidder. But he did need to find something to do, otherwise he would have to do something dreadful with his time, like actually finish his formal education. On the other hand, he had a lot more time to research the dragon and not worry about being late to work.

"Sevan, I presume?" A dark haired older woman asked as he came up to his door. She was sitting on a chair on his porch, clearly waiting for him. "My name is Rita Santos."

He swept his gaze over her, his eyes momentarily coming to rest on her Moon Ring but then continuing to meet her eyes. "Can I help you?" He asked with a sense of finality.

"I assume you know what I am?" She continued on when Sevan gave a nod of confirmation. "Then you also know what I am capable of?"

"If you came here to threaten me-." Sevan began tiredly.

To his surprise Rita shook her head. "No, I was not intending to threaten you." Rita said calmly. "I was referencing my age. As you can see, I am a much older mermaid than my young pupils whom you have already met. I understand you offered them a truce?"

"And they turned it down."

"And yet, you did not attack Mimi yesterday when she helped you with the dolphin issue." Rita remarked. "In fact you told her that you considered the truce in place even though they rejected the offer."

"Your point?" Sevan asked, leaning on the porch's railing and crossing his arms.

"I would like to take you up on your offer, formally." Rita told him simply. "Forgive me, but I have already taken the liberty of looking inside your home. I must say, the books you have amassed are impressive. In fact, I have been looking for a few of them myself."

"Breaking into someone's home and then saying you want to work with them seems strangle contradictory." Sevan remarked, not surprised in the slightest at the invasion of his privacy. He knew he had locked the door, but such things were probably easily rectified when you had magic at your disposal. "But I guess I understand the reasoning behind it. So, if you really want to have a truce, how do you suppose that we go about facing this water dragon?"

"I would like to look over some of the books you have, I think the information therein could greatly assist us." Rita answered. Sevan narrowed his eyes as he considered the implications of letting a mermaid have access to his information trove, and Rita seemed to immediately understand his reluctance. "And in return I will be glad to show you somethings that may help you understanding the dragon."

"I don't see any books, or manuscripts, on you." Sevan said slowly, pushing off the railing and stepping into his home. "And you didn't leave any in here either."

"Actually, I was hoping to speak to you on that." Rita said, following him into the house. She stopped politely a few steps beyond the threshold. "You see, I am a bit of a literature enthusiast, particularly in books that are rare like the ones you have collected. It is not easy for me to see them kept as such-."

"They aren't in bad condition." Sevan protested.

"No," Rita agreed, "But they are not being kept in the best environment either. I would, with your permission, like to relocate them to my grotto. I can work on restoring some of the damaged books and pages there, where I can freely use magic."

"No deal." Sevan barked. "If you think I would let you take-."

"And, of course, you would have free access to the books in my collection as well." Rita said, cutting him off once more.

Sevan thought on this for only a few moments. There was really no question. "When do we move them?"

Unsurprisingly, moving books with magic at the ready proved far easier than it had been moving them into Sevan's house to begin with. He was also forced to admit that it was much nicer having more room to move around in his home. They loaded the books into Rita's car and quickly made their way over to her home. Sevan was overjoyed to learn that she had an actual secret passage, but even more overjoyed to learn to what it led to.

"No way." He breathed, dropping the crate of books he carried into the center of the grotto and turning in a slow circle. "This is… incredible."

"I am glad that you like my grotto." Rita said, carefully setting the box of books she had been carrying onto a stone table surrounded by similar couches. She waved an arm over to where a large shelf of thick leather bound books were setting and the young hunter immediately crossed to it, pulling down one with gold lettering on the spine. "Please, help yourselves to my books. I do ask that you refrain from touching any of my treasure."

"Not interested in your gold." Sevan murmured. He crossed the room and took a seat on the couch as he began to pour over the book, his eyes narrowed as he read. It was very old, older than most of his own, but it was in immaculate condition. "How did you…?" He turned to where Rita had been standing and was surprised to see that she had left him alone in the grotto.

 _As far as tactics go, probably not a wise idea to give your enemy, truce or not, access to your secrets so readily._ Sevan thought to himself as he turned back to the book. He flipped over several more pages, interested in their findings. The book in question seemed to have been written by a mermaid, and gave a detailed description of their history. _Not so peaceful then. A merman versus mermaid war? Wonder what sparked that._

He continued skimming through the book's history until he came across a picture of a very familiar looking ring. "Moon Rings…" He muttered, pulling the thin silver chain from under his shirt and letting them hang out over the front of his shirt. He began to read, and by the end Sevan was half-confused and half-furious. He had thought the rings to be the mermaid's connection with magic, and without them they would be essentially helpless. But apparently he was very wrong. According to the book, mermaids and mermen were magical creatures in essence and taking away their moon rings did not take away their magic. In fact, it seemed as though the rings only seemed to store and catalyze their magic. They had something to do with the full moon, but what it was exactly he had no earthly idea. The book was unclear at best on the topic, it seemed to think that the reader would only be a mermaid and as such would already have a firm grasp of the Moon Rings and their specifics.

He slowly closed the cover and placed the book on top of the crate where his rested and removed the Moon Rings from around his neck. He slid one off the chain and held it before him, turning the ring over and over in his hand. He had never tried putting one of the rings on, the thought had never occurred to him as he assumed that only mermaids would be able to use them, but if the book was correct there might be a chance that the rings were able to store magic.

He was just about to slip the ring on his finger when a shriek interrupted him. He looked up to find a brightly glowing Moon Ring aimed right at him. He opened his mouth to speak when a wall of what felt like hard air hit him and sent him tumbling over the back of the couch.


	9. Discussion

When Sevan awoke he found that he was still quite groggy. His head pounded and his right shoulder felt as though someone had taken a baseball bat to it. His vision was blurry and seemed to be pulsing in time with his headache which attacked in waves. He was lying on his stomach with his left arm twisted at an odd angle beneath him. He did not think it was broken as he could still feel and move his fingers, which was helpful as he discreetly reached for the knife he had hidden beneath his shirt tucked into the waist band of his shorts. His fingers wrapped around the handle as he blinked several more times, attempting to focus his eyes if only for a mere moment. He had to escape this grotto, he now saw that coming here had been a grave miscalculation on his part. When he could make out the image of two feet beginning to move towards him from across the grotto he sprung to his feet, ripping the knife from its sheath in the process. A sharp stinging around his stomach caused him to wince and he instantly knew that his dulled reflexes had caused the knife to cut across the flesh of his abdomen.

"Stay back." He said, his right hand going to his stomach and, unsurprisingly, coming back coated in the crimson of his blood. The pain had the unintended effect of sharpening his senses once more and his vision returned to its normal clarity. He stood with his back to the wall his knife extended towards Weilan, Evie, and Ondina. All three of the mermaids had their hands extended towards him, Moon Rings glowing brightly. "Or you will regret it."

"What's going on down here?!" Rita asked, taking the stairs two at a time and coming to a halt between the confrontation. "What happened?! Sevan, why are you bleeding?!"

"Don't act like you didn't plan this." He snarled in return, turning the knife on Rita. "You knew this would happen!"

"Don't be stupid." Rita said dismissively, raising her hand and sending the knife in Sevan's hand flying away with a flick of her wrist. "Girls, calm yourself. Sevan is here as my guest."

"You invited him _here?!_ " Evie asked incredulously. "To the grotto? Why?!"

"Well I would first remind you that this grotto belongs to me." Rita said coolly, slowly and warily approaching Sevan even as he began to slowly back up. "Sevan we need to take care of that cut, it is bleeding rather badly. And I assume that crashing sound I heard was you being launched via magical methods. Judging by how you are favoring your right arm I think it would be best if I checked you for other injuries as well."

"I can take care of myself." He snapped, not at all willing to let a mermaid tend to his wounds particularly when they were caused by her kind to begin with. "Leave me be."

"You have already seen what my magic is capable of." Rita said warningly, pointedly glancing to where the knife now lay on the floor. "Do you really think it wise to test my patience?"

"I can't believe you let him down here!" Ondina said, clearly not sharing Rita's concern for his injuries. "He could-."

"He isn't the one who initiated this conflict, is he?" Rita asked coldly. "In fact if I were to guess, he was attacked quite without cause. Isn't that right?"

"You can't blame Ondina for that." Weilan argued for the blonde mermaid's behalf. "We came in here to find _him_ sitting at the table reading one of the books and holding a Moon Ring in his hand."

"My Moon Rings." Sevan said, suddenly remembering them. He patted his chest down and found two of them safely resting on his chain, intact despite his impact. He looked desperately for the third and his eyes quickly came upon it, resting peacefully on the same book he had just been reading. Apparently Ondina followed his line of sight at the same moment and was a bit faster, her hand closing around the Moon Ring just before Sevan's did. He had launched himself across the room in the attempt and fell hard against the stone, a snarl on his face. Ondina quickly stepped backwards and out of his immediate reach. He jumped to his feet, his abdomen wound protesting rather painfully against his movements. "Give it back!" Sevan demanded.

"It doesn't belong to you!" Evie answered, stepping defensively in front of Ondina.

"The hell it doesn't!" He snapped.

A loud bang caused them all to jump and stare at Rita who looked positively livid. "That is ENOUGH!" She barked, advancing on them. She pointed a finger at Sevan and he staggered several steps back until the stone couch forced him to a sitting position. She held one hand out to Ondina and narrowed her eyes. "The Moon Ring. Now." She commanded, an authoritative note in her voice.

"It doesn't belong to him!" Weilan protested. "It belongs to the mermaid he took it from!"

"That is neither here nor there for the moment." Rita answered firmly, "Now give me the Moon Ring and sit down."

Very slowly, and even more so unwillingly, Ondina did just that. Rita promptly dropped the Moon Ring onto the table before Sevan and then stepped away to some of the hanging plants that lined the room. The three mermaids slowly took sweats directly opposite of Sevan, watching him just as warily as he was them. The silence only grew between them as neither of the parties was willing to be the one to break it. Only when Rita returned with an off-orange salve in a green bowl did the tension somewhat diminish. "What is that?" Sevan asked as Rita put some on her fingers and made to place some of his wound. He caught her hand and sent her a warning glance.

"As if you would know even if she did tell you." Ondina said under her breath, just loud enough for Sevan to catch. He paused to glare at her before taking the bowl from Rita and examining its contents. "I told you-."

"North China Sea Umber's Algae?" Sevan asked, sniffing the paste cautiously. He frowned and added, "Lion's Main Jellyfish extract?"

There could not have been more astonishment on any of the mermaids', save for Rita's, faces. "Close." The older mermaid said, impressed. "Those two are the main ingredients, but there are a few others as well that I doubt you would recognize as they haven't been discovered by humans yet."

"Interesting." Sevan murmured, rubbing the mixture against his cut. He expected some stinging, but the mixture did nothing more than smoke slightly as it touched his flesh. He glanced warily to Rita who gestured for him to continue. Deciding to take the risk, he did just that until the entire cut was covered in orange paste. The paste smoked for only a few moments longer before it hardened and began to fall off all on its own. When it was nothing more than a pile of orange pieces on the floor Sevan was shocked to see that the wound had completely healed, leaving only a thin pink scar behind. "Amazing."

"Isn't it?" Rita asked, pleased by the reaction. "I am sure you are aware that many plants of the sea have qualities that most people aren't aware of?"

"Of course." Sevan nodded, ignoring the shocked and skeptical looks from the other three mermaids. "I discovered a few uses on my own and read about others in some of the older books I have. The old time alchemists may have been stark-raving mad but they occasionally knew what they were doing."

"Occasionally." Rita agreed, sharing a knowing laugh. For a moment it seemed as though the animosity had dissipated, but it quickly returned with her next sentence. "So, you have met these three before it seems?"

"Unfortunately." Ondina sniffed, a superior expression on her face.

"Enough, Ondina." Rita snapped. "Whatever antagonism we may have for one another is put on hold. I accepted Sevan's offer of a temporary truce in order to deal with the dragon."

"You didn't!" Evie cried. "Rita he can't be trusted."

"For now, we will have to work around that." Rita answered immediately. "This dragon is a matter that concerns us all. Sevan, I assume that you wish to get rid of the dragon before it can catch the public's eye as well?"

"If at all possible, yes." He agreed. "The less people know the better it is for me."

"And the same goes for us." Rita confirmed, daring the girls to argue. "As we have already learned, the beast is attracted to magic. Especially that of mermaids."

"And how do you know that?" Sevan asked curiously, "I thought you haven't had any luck on finding anything in your books?"

"True, I haven't." Rita told him. She looked to Weilan in silent question and the Asian mermaid gave a small reluctant nod. "But we learned from Weilan that the beast hunts and preys upon mermaids."

"Hm." Sevan said, considering this. It sounded as though letting the beast have its way wouldn't necessarily be a bad thing but at the same time the beast could potentially be caught on camera at any time and that would be bad. Hunting mermaids was difficult enough without having to worry about humans meddling in his affairs. "As much as I approve of that, it doesn't change anything other than we at least know what it's after."

This seemed to surprise the three mermaids, Ondina in particular. "You aren't going to just let us fight it by ourselves?" She asked, suspicious still.

"I just said I wouldn't." Sevan said with an eye roll. "I'm… greedy. Don't like to share my hunt with others."

Ondina sneered at him but did not say anything else. "So do you have any ideas, Sevan?" Rita asked. "I understand that you had an encounter with the beast."

"Well, like I said we know what it is after." Sevan said, thinking as he rolled his shoulder and wincing as it popped rather painfully. "But that doesn't do us much good."

"Why not?" Evie asked, genuine curiosity in her voice.

"Because we don't know how to stop it." Sevan said simply. He noticed the guilty look that passed momentarily across Weilan's face and filed it away to be investigated later, but did not comment on it. "If you want to sacrifice yourselves be my guest but it wouldn't do anything. Until we have a solid way of actually killing this thing-."

"Killing it?" Ondina interjected abruptly. "Why would we kill it?"

"Because killing it is the only way to make sure this thing doesn't come back." Sevan answered dismissively. "As I was saying. Until we have a way of killing it-."

"There are ways of magically trapping creatures you know." Ondina interrupted once more. "Not everything needs to be about killing, you monster."

Sevan tapped his foot in an annoyed fashion and worked his jaw. "And, tell me, if these ways of trapping the dragon were so good why haven't you used them yet?" When Ondina didn't respond he continued on, "Let me guess: you already tried and failed. Alright, before you interrupt me again let me make something clear. If you want to get rid of this thing, you need to kill it. If you want to try and just trap it, be my guest. I'm sure that it will let you have all the attempts that you want. Probably won't go after your pod or anything like that. Hey, maybe it will even tell you how to seal it so that it will never escape again."

"Sevan, don't be so cynical." Rita scolded him slightly, earning a surprised look. "Mermaids are gentle creatures by nature. We-."

"I'm going to stop you right there. Because that is a bold-faced lie." He said abruptly, pushing to his feet. His expression, which had turned somewhat warm, was back to its icy polite façade once more. "I am afraid that I must depart for now. When you decide that you are actually ready to face this dragon seriously, come find me. I'll be around. In the meantime I am going to call in a few favors and see if I can find some actually helpful information."


	10. Drown

"Sure I can't get you anything?" David asked hesitantly, standing over Sevan's table at the café with no small amount of suspicion on his face. "I mean, you have been here reading that book all day."

"I'm fine." Sevan answered, slightly annoyed, ignoring the dry burning in his throat. It had been almost three days since he had last taken a drink of water, the thought of how greatly the act pained him preventing him from allowing himself to quench the fire. Whatever the dragon had done to him was slowly getting worse. Getting even the smallest amount of water on him felt as though someone was taking a hot brand to his flesh, and showering was by far the worst pain he had ever experienced in his life. In fact the pain was so bad he had nearly broken his resolve and gone to the mermaids for help. But he managed to stop himself, the memories of his past surfacing and bolstering his sense of self once more. "If you wanted me to leave, you could simply ask. I simply did not want to waste a day like today by staying home."

"So you came to the café?" David asked, skeptical now. "Why not go down to the beach?"

Sevan lightly tapped the ancient book before him with one finger and raised an eyebrow. "Not exactly the best idea to expose a book this old to the elements." He answered easily. "Besides, your lovely little establishment is air conditioned."

"If-." David paused and looked around before leaning forward and conspiratorially whispering, "If the others find you here it _will_ cause a scene. Ondina hates you. That isn't good for business, and I would rather them not bring any attention to themselves. Or my café."

Gently closing the book, Sevan heaved a small sigh. "Very well." He said, tucking the book under one arm and rising from his seat. "I will respect your wished and not bring any unfortunate attention to your café. Have a good day, David."

"You too." He said, clearly grateful that Sevan was leaving.

True to his word Sevan left the café. "You know, he might not have had such a bad idea." Sevan murmured, glancing down at his book. Rita had informed him that she had placed some sort of magical protection over them in order to keep them well-preserved. So long as he stayed out of the water a walk along the beach would undoubtedly do him good. Perhaps it would even take some of the edge from the dry burning in his throat.

He leapt lightly over the side of the pier and landed in a crouch on the white sand of the beach. He straightened slowly and took in a deep breath. Thankfully the dragon's effect on him seemed limited to being in contact with water. The smell of the sea was just as lovely as it always had been to him. He began a casual pace across the sand, moving easily across the shifting terrain. Whenever he crossed in front of someone he would apologize politely, though it was more of an auto-response than actual manners. He was just passing in front of an elderly gentleman when a blood-curdling scream had him reaching for his knife hidden at the small of his back. He quickly identified the source of the scream and was slightly relieved when he saw that she was not looking at him. Instead her gaze was cast out over the water. A second worry, a dragon-related one, surfaced as he followed her gaze but there was no relief when he saw that he was mistaken yet again. A large gray fin was slowly circling a young boy of no more than six on a longboard. The boy's eyes were wide enough that they were visible enough for Sevan to see them even from shore. The boy was quite a ways out, at least twenty feet beyond the swells, and the sharks seemed intent on pushing him even farther out. That may have been incorrect as they seemed more intent on bumping him off the board more than moving him. Sevan counted only two, and he had no trouble identifying their breed. Bull sharks. Known man-killers.

"Someone, please help him!" The woman shrieked desperately, wildly attempting to fight off two men as she had tried to run into the sea. "Please help my boy!"

Sevan was many things, many of them not good, but he was not the type of individual who would let another life be extinguished when he could do at least something to help. He cast his eyes around the beach and lit upon the person closest to him, the same elderly gentleman he had been about to pass in front of. He shoved the ancient book into the man's hands and said, "Hold this and _do not_ lose it. If I don't make it back take it to the café on the pier, got it?" He demanded.

"What-? Y-yes." The old man stammered, clearly taken aback by Sevan's abrupt tone.

Sevan was already turning away before the man had answered. He drew the knife from the small of his back and placed it between his teeth. He had done this for two reasons, the first being to obviously make it easier for him to swim. The other was to have something to bite down onto as the water began to burn him. A small groan of pain escaped him as the water rushed eagerly over his ankles, very nearly bringing him to his knees before he had even done something. The sound of a terrified young boy crying out for his mother pushed the pain from his mind and he continued deeper until he was stroking in earnest towards the apex predators and their prey. Sevan was an exceptionally strong swimmer, years and years of ocean research explorations had honed his body into a lean swimmer's form. Relying on his extensive knowledge of sharks and their attack habits Sevan swam right up to the board and pulled himself onto it quickly, placing the knife onto the area in front of him. The shock and relief on the child's face could not have been plainer. "Thank you!" He sobbed, shaking like a leaf in a windstorm.

"Don't thank me yet," Sevan warned, surveying the sharks as they continued their circling. "We aren't clear. We have to get to deeper water."

"Deeper water?" The boy croaked in shock, his eyes widening even further. "Why?! They'll eat us?!"

"And if we try to get to shallow water they might become aggressive and attack." Sevan snapped, thinking even harder. The deeper water idea was the best for a multitude of reasons. There was every chance that they could wait out the sharks, or they would find some other form of prey to occupy themselves. But that hinged on the idea that the young boy would not freak out and somehow aggravate them into a feeding frenzy, and it looked like he wasn't very far from doing just that.

A thought came into Sevan's head at that point, a crazy, reckless, and very likely suicidal thought. But if it worked the boy would, with at least a modicum of luck, be able to make it to shore with ease. "Alright, listen up. You win." Sevan told him soothingly. "Let's paddle to shore, okay?"

"Really?" The boy asked, relief washing over his features though they remained frozen in terror. "They won't attack?"

"No, of course not." Sevan said encouragingly. "I have a plan. You know how to surf, right?"

"I do!" The boy said, an odd note of fierce pride entering his voice.

"Good!" Sevan said, breathing a silent sigh of relief. "Because once we get to the swells you are going to catch the first wave you can and you are going to ride it all the way in. Think you can do that?"

"Yes!" The boy said, nodding hugely.

Sevan watched warily as the sharks began to circle ever closer and swallowed down the nervousness he was beginning to feel in the pit of his stomach. "Alright, here we go." Sevan said, slowly moving his arms through the water, his knees on the board above. The sharks thankfully did not react until they were mere feet from the swells. But just like that they grew aggravated. They cut through the water around the board far faster than they had been, drawing another nervous whimper from the boy. "Remember what I told you?" Sevan whispered urgently, clasping his knife firmly in his hand.

"Yes." The boy whispered back just as urgently.

"Good luck, kid." Sevan told him, falling backwards off the board and using his momentum to kick the boy forward. He prayed silently as he went beneath the water that he had not dislodged the young boy from the board.

Once underwater, he opened his eyes and had exactly half a second to watch as the first of the sharks lunged at him. Thankfully it seemed as though his abrupt entry into the water was surprising to the sharks. The first lunge missed, but the second was not so quick to strike. Sevan turned in the water and promptly lost all of his air as he screamed out, teeth ripping into his calf. His knife went to work immediately, stabbing for the shark's eyes and Ampullae of Lorenzini. If it was vital and he was able to reach it, Sevan tried to hit it even as the teeth sawed through muscle, tendons, and scraped against his bone. It was a valiant effort, but in the end futile. His vision grew dark from blood loss and lack of oxygen, the knife slipping from his fingers even as he tried to keep up his assault. The shark gave one last shake of its head before releasing Sevan. He felt something slam into his back moments later, but he had almost no energy left. Staying conscious and fighting his desire to draw in water took every last drop he had remaining.

But in the end it was for naught. His body floated downwards rather than up, and he simply could not move his limbs. The sharks seemed to have disappeared, but he knew that wouldn't last long. His body slowly hit the sea floor, and the last thing Sevan saw before he gave into his lungs' demands to take a breath was a curious looking golden-orange tail in the water above them. Then… nothing.


	11. A Tale of a Tail

When he awoke, he wished he was dead. Death was substantially less painful from what he understood. His eyes snapped open and went immediately to his leg, his face paling when he saw the ruined remnants of his leg. It had been coated in some sort of green paste and wrapped in a thin layer of seaweed, but he saw the damage nonetheless. He had felt the damage very clearly when the shark had been attacking him, but actually seeing it left him with the taste of bile in his mouth. Tendons, ligaments, muscles, they had all been cut to ribbons.

He glanced around the room where he was lying, taking stock of his situation. The room was a startling white color scheme, down to the sheets and he laid on. He heard the sound of voices coming from somewhere in the house, and he began to have an idea of where he was. A pair of crutches stood propped up in the corner, presumably for his use, and he immediately began to shift off the bed. He bit off a cry of pain as his leg sent pain rocketing up his leg. It came as no surprise to him that he could not move the limb even in the slightest. When he had managed to scoot himself to the edge of the bed he placed his good leg, his right leg, onto the ground and applied some pressure to it. His muscles were weak, but they were still usable. He reached for the crutches, leaning heavily on his right leg. His fingers brushed the very edge of the crutch, pushing it ever so slightly just further out of his reach. "You have got to be kidding me." He panted in fury, shifting ever so more precariously off of the bed. The last adjustment was all it took. His right leg could not take his full weight and buckled beneath him when he inexplicably slid off of the bed. He had previously thought that the pain in his leg could not get any worse. He really wished he was right. But he was very wrong. When his left leg hit the floor it sent tendrils of pure agony spiraling up his leg, drawing a cry of pain from his very being.

"Yup." He said through gritted teeth, tears of pain streaming down his eyes. "That hurt. That _really hurt._ "

He had inadvertently pulled the sheets from the bed down with him when he fell and Sevan had the uncomfortable feeling of true helplessness. He disentangled himself quickly, tossing the sheets into the opposite corner of the room in frustration. The only bright side of his fall was that his impact with the floor had somehow caused the crutch to fall down the wall and was now in easy reach. He quickly took hold of the metal and began the slow process of pulling himself to his feet. It was not easy, nor was it quick, and by the end his chest, neck, and face were coated in sweat but he completed his task nonetheless. He stood shakily on his good leg, most of his body weight being supported by the crutch. "Alright," He said, wiping his face off with the hand not wrapped around his crutch. "First things first. Find out where I am, and why I am alive."

His first step with the crutch was difficult, he had never used them before, and it took him a few paces for him to get the relative pattern of his walking. It only took him reaching the outside of his room to immediately recognize where he was. The older mermaid's house. Rita Santos.

The very effort of getting out of the room he had been resting in left him breathing hard with even more sweat dropping from his chin. "Gotta get out of here." He grunted, taking another step forward. He truly hoped that they were not home, he could not begin to hope to outrun them if they prevented him from leaving.

Luck was not on his side as it seemed. He had just made it to the kitchen when Mimi came up, presumably from the grotto, she seemed as shocked as Sevan was furious. "You're up." She said, displaying a real ability for stating the obvious.

"Really?" He asked dryly. "I hadn't noticed."

"You shouldn't be moving around." She said, her gaze darting to his ravaged leg. "Rita put some medicine on it, but moving might reopen the wounds."

"I'll take care of myself." Sevan snapped, momentary guilt for his lack of gratitude washing over him. He groaned inwardly as the guilt assuaged him and he grunted out, "Why did you save me?"

"Because you saved that little land boy." Mimi said, shrugging. "And because Rita made us promise to help you if you needed it."

"Well, thanks." Sevan grumbled awkwardly. Now with all traces of guilt over his ingratitude suppressed, he attempted to draw himself up to his normal stature. It didn't work, his wounded leg throbbing in protest. He settled for a half-hunched, raised-chin, position. "But you don't need to look after me, I can take care of myself."

"With that leg?" Rita asked, appearing from the same direction that Mimi had come from. "I think not. The fact that you can even stand right now, crutch or not, is admirable in itself. The sharks severed your femoral artery, most of your major tendons, and quite a few muscles. Even with constant magical healing it is going to be at least a few months until you are back to your old self."

Sevan found it hard to argue with this. He needed his legs in proper working order for him to be able to work. A marine wildlife scientist with a bum leg was something of a misnomer, considering their job often required them to be on the move. But he still hated being beholden to the mermaids, he already owed them one favor for saving him from the sharks. If he accepted this offer, he was going to have to owe them a second one as well.

Apparently it was not hard for Rita to follow the swirl of thoughts going through Sevan's mind. "I understand that accepting help from us will be… difficult." She said delicately, "But it really is the only choice you have. I promise, the second you are able to move well enough on your own you can leave. I will not try to keep you here any longer than you wish to be."

"Fine… and thank you… again." Sevan said the words grudgingly, slipping from his mouth like sandpaper. He rubbed the shoulder that his crutch was tucked under uncomfortably and shifted the padded metal. "How did you know I was in trouble?"

"A shark told me." Mimi said, stating the answer like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "They can smell blood from a very far away. Ondina and I had been swimming by the reef when we saw it heading towards the beach. We followed it and asked, and that led us to you."

"We were almost too late." Ondina added emerging from the grotto. By her tone of voice Sevan guessed that she was rather disappointed they had managed to get there on time. "You had just hit the sea floor when we swam up. The sharks swam away when they saw us. I thought you were dead."

"In truth, I thought the same when they brought you to the grotto." Rita admitted. "You had lost a substantial amount of blood and you had swallowed a lot of water as well."

"Well. I suppose I can thank magic for the fact I am still breathing?" Sevan asked. It was his way of thanking them indirectly. He loathed thanking the creatures that had stolen so much from him, and this was somewhat of a middle ground.

They stood in an awkward silence after Sevan spoke, no one sure of how to respond to the statement. The silence stretched for a few moments with Mimi glancing between Sevan, Ondina, and Rita. Ondina and Sevan stared each other down and Rita seemed to be struggling with her natural inclination to say something to bridge the gap between the hunter and the mermaid. "My books." Sevan said finally, breaking the silence.

"They are still in the grotto, did you want-?" Rita began, before being abruptly cut off by Sevan.

"Not those." Sevan said with a shake of his head. He paused and amended his statement. "Well, those, but… I have others as well. They are in a storage warehouse by the Marine Park. I had been exchanging them with the ones at my house when I finished reading one."

"You were keeping secrets from us?" Ondina demanded. "After we saved your life?"

"No, I was keeping secrets _before_ you saved my life." Sevan said with a roll of his eyes. "Besides, you have your secrets and I have mine. Like-." Sevan's eyes widened and he suddenly began to pat down his chest for his Moon Rings.

"Looking for these, I presume?" Rita asked, withdrawing the silver chain with the Rings upon them from her pocket. She extended her hand and Sevan quickly took them back, placing the chain safely back upon his neck. "I must say, you were quite fortunate that you had them. They had stored quite a large amount of magic inside them. Without them I am not entirely certain you would still be here."

"I guess they are my good luck charms." He said, patting them fondly.

"How did you get them?" Ondina blurted out, the question having clearly burned her for some time. "What happened to the mermaids that they belonged to?"

"Not sure." Sevan shrugged. He rubbed the chain absentmindedly between his thumb and forefinger as he continued, "Everything I had read about mermaids told me that your magic was linked to an item, something you had on you at all times."

"And that's another thing- how did you know about us?" Ondina demanded. "Humans shouldn't know about us. Even in the old days when land people were on wooden ships they thought we were myths."

Sevan stared at her, patiently waiting for her to finish her tirade before answering. "I didn't know about them." He said, his voice filled with quiet rage. "I didn't know about them until one night when I was twelve I went on a sail with my parents. We were on vacation, in the Caribbean, and it was late at night. My mom… she was fascinated by the way old-time sailors navigated by the stars and had learned how to do it herself. Night was their favorite time to sail. So we went out one night and sailed a few hours away from the docks. It was a clear night, the moon was full. Everything was fine until a weird fog suddenly came out of nowhere. It was thick, I could barely see a foot in front of me. That was when the singing started. It started really far off, but it came closer really fast. It was beautiful, hauntingly so. It made me want to get closer to it. My parents were the same way. They… they went in the water. At the same time. The second I heard them hit the water the song stopped and it was like my head cleared with the fog. But my parents… there was no sign of them. There was no sign of the owner of that voice either. I tried to find them, they had taught me to sail the boat in case something happened to them, but I didn't. Not a trace. I searched for what seemed like weeks, but it was probably only a few days. The owner of the sailboat had called in the boat as not returned and they eventually found me, all by myself out there. The local Coast Guard did their own search for them, but they didn't have any better luck. They were officially declared lost at sea two days after I was found. I told them about the singing and the fog, but they just chalked it up to my mind playing tricks on me. But I knew better."

Sevan's vision had slipped from the present and into the past, and as he related his tale he saw every moment as though it was happening in present time before him. He could see everything in perfect clarity, and that recollection had been what assured him that his mind had not been playing tricks on him. "So… I started looking. With my parents gone I went to live with my uncle, who happened to be working on a commercial fishing boat. Since I was only twelve, and he didn't want me home alone, he took me with him most days. Fishermen are a superstitious bunch. Hang around them long enough and you hear all sorts of legends. Like the legend of the sirens. Half-woman, half-fish beings that lured sailors to their death with their voices."

"But those were just legends…." Rita said slowly, her attention fixed upon Sevan.

"I had experienced that they were not just legends." Sevan shot back. "I knew in my core that a siren was what took my parents. So, I started researching. The days that my uncle didn't take me with him on the boat I went to the library. I dug up every article I could find on them, every journal, everything. But it wasn't enough. I needed more. That opportunity came one day when a researcher tagged along on my uncle's fishing boat to see the local marine ecosystem. I started talking to him and I guess he took a liking to me. He offered to take me along with him and his research team on an expedition to catalogue a rare type of shellfish. My uncle let me go and I suppose that I made a name for myself there. After that it was one research team after the other, all of them keen to have me along all because I had an eye for seeing things that other people tended to miss. It is because of that…. Well. That's really none of your concern, is it?" Sevan abruptly cut himself off and turned away, slowly crutching his way back to the room he had been resting in. He had spoken too much, and subsequently had given away far too much.


	12. Allies

"There, that should be good enough for today." Rita said, satisfaction evident in her tone. She lowered her Moon Ring from where it had been pointing at Sevan's back and admired her work. "You are progressing nicely, I must say. You have already healed far more than I would have expected."

"Thanks." Sevan said, panting lightly. The healings took a significant toll on him, often leaving him low on energy and in dire need of a nap. He, naturally, ignored these temptations as it was a show of weakness. But Rita was right, he felt much better in the short time he had been at her house. It had been only two weeks since he had started staying at the older mermaid's house, and yet he was already managing his way around the house on a single crutch. He was far from being one hundred percent, but it was a goof start nonetheless. "What now? We've been through every book that you and I have and we haven't found anything else about the dragon other than a few mentions of them from sailors."

"I am well aware." Rita said tiredly, taking a seat on the bed beside him. "Unfortunately I am not entirely sure of what we should do."

"What's this I heard about Zac and Mimi having visions of their mother?" Sevan asked curiously. "Could it be related?"

"I'm not sure." Rita admitted, shrugging. "If it is, I am not sure how. Nerissa was an extremely powerful mermaid, she even created a spell that would suppress Zac's merman half, but I am not sure _why_ she would create a spell to create with her children like such. It all seems very odd."

"I'll take your word for it." Sevan muttered, thinking on this. He had read a significant amount as regarding to magic and how it worked, including spellcraft, but he saw no connection between the dragon and the mother of Zac and Mimi. "At any rate it looks like we haven't made much progress. Have the others figured anything out yet?"

"No, not really." Rita shrugged. She paused, appearing to hesitate, and Sevan caught the break in her words.

"Something on your mind?"

"No, not really." She said unconvincingly.

"Rita, for the time being we are allies." Sevan reminded her. "If there is something related to the dragon-."

"Well, no." Rita said, appearing uncomfortable. "I'm not entirely sure it is related to the dragon at all. But… Zac and Weilan have recently begun spending a lot of time together. Weilan's pod was decimated by the dragon, and I am worried that they may be plotting something that could lead them to doing something dangerous."

"Vengeance is a powerful motive." Sevan shrugged. "If they are, why bother telling me?"

"I had hoped that you might talk some sense into them." Rita admitted hopefully, "You are closer to their age than I am. They have a habit of not listening to my advice, no matter how I might give it."

"And you think they'll listen to me?" Sevan said, one eyebrow raised as he stood up with the aid of his crutch. "Not to be rude, but I am probably not exactly their favorite person right now. The whole merfolk hunter thing kinda puts a downer on any potential friendship."

"Be that as it may, they do respect you." Rita said encouragingly. "They might not show it, but that is because of the way you keep them at arms' length."

"Would you prefer that I become friends with them? Sevan asked coolly, one eyebrow raised.

"Honestly? Yes." Rita said truthfully, "But not for the reason that you think. The dragon is a danger to all of us. Something you know better than most."

"I don't know what you are talking about." Sevan said, a bit too quickly.

"I see the way that you react to water." Rita said quietly. "I didn't think much of it at first, but after a little while I couldn't help but notice. Water causes you immense pain, doesn't it? Even drinking is a trial for you, isn't that right? That dragon did something to you."

"So you've noticed." Sevan said, stating the obvious. He fixed her with a searching look, his eyes narrowed slightly. "Can you fix it?"

"Possibly." Rita said, though her eyes were far from certain. "But it would be risky. When I realized what had happened to you, I started looking for curses that caused such symptoms, but I found nothing. Attempting to undo a spell without knowing its specifics is dangerous, and that is best case scenario. It could very well prove fatal. The only way I know, for certain, to remove the spell would be to get rid of the dragon for good."

He considered this for a long moment. If getting rid of the dragon was truly the only way to cure him of his affliction, Rita's proposed magical fix seemed like a last chance option at best, he had no choice. He would do whatever it took to rid himself of this pain. "Fine." He said, a note of determination in his voice. "The others, have they tried anything to get rid of it yet?"

"I know that Weilan and Ondina attempted a magical puzzle box, but that failed." Rita said, confused. "Why?"

"Curious." Sevan muttered, closing his eyes and thinking. "I might, possibly, have a contact that could help. She specializes in rare or exotic finds, she is the best in the business at what she does. I'll give her a call, I can probably convince her to do a showcase nearby. She might have run across something magical without even knowing it, the others can look when she gets here."

"That would be lovely." Rita said, smiling. "Thank you."

"Look." Sevan said, fixing her with a penetrating glare. "I don't like this. I don't like working with mermaids, or mermen for that matter, but if it means that I can get rid of whatever the dragon did to me it doesn't matter. I'll forget my past, forget what mermaids took from me, and treat them like they were anyone else. But if I am putting forth that kind of effort, I need to know that they are too. If this truly will take all of our best efforts, like you said, we can't afford to be at each other's throats. If I am doing this, they have to drop their hatred too."

"I will talk to them." Rita promised, rising from the bed and offering a tentative hand to Sevan. "To a new beginning?"

"A new beginning." Sevan said slowly, closing his hand around hers and shaking it once. "You can tell them that I won't hunt Mako once this dragon is dealt with. That should sate them, at least for now."

"I am sure they will appreciate that, Ondina in particular." Rita said, smiling at him in a winning fashion. "Did you know she has a sister in the pod?"

"I wasn't no." Sevan said offhandedly, scrolling through his phone for the name he was looking for. He quickly typed up a text and sent it, storing the phone in his pocket once again. "But then again I am sure there is quite a lot that I am not aware of."

"That is true." Rita agreed. "I am heading down to the grotto, would you like to join me? Perhaps we missed something in the books."

"Sure." Sevan agreed, following her through the door albeit at a much slower pace.

They descended the steps to the grotto, Rita staying only a few paces in front of Sevan in the case that he lost his balance and fell. Luckily the precaution was not needed and they ended up in the grotto without incident. They were not alone as it turned out, Mimi and Ondina were there as well. The two mermaids looked up and smiled at Rita before glaring at Sevan in perfect unison. He smiled back at them, no antagonism in his expression. "Hello there." He said pleasantly. "Having a nice day?"

They ignored him, turning up their noses and turning their attention back to the bowl they had before them which, slightly worryingly, was hissing and steaming. "What are you girls making?" Rita asked, clearly concerned.

"Just something for the dolphins at the marine park." Mimi said reassuringly. "Don't worry, I've made this a thousand times."

Sevan bit back the retort that came to mind and instead busied himself with a book, feeling eyes upon him before he had the chance to even open it. He looked up and saw the two younger mermaids glaring at him expectantly. "What?" He asked defensively. If he was going to get into an insult battle he at least wanted to have the courtesy of knowing why.

"Not going to comment?" Mimi asked venomously. "No snide remarks or sarcastic put downs?"

Sevan resisted the urge to take the bait and do just that, opting instead to shrug and open the book on his lap. "Nope." He said impassively. "If you know what you are doing, what should I care?"

"Never stopped you before." Ondina spat.

"I'm turning over a new leaf." Sevan said, flipping a page in the book and not bothering to look up.

"A tiger shark can't change its striped." Ondina sneered at him, clearly not believing the statement.

"Be that as it may." Sevan said, quickly tiring of this conversation. He glanced up and raised an eyebrow at the potion. Both mermaids had turned their backs on it as they stared him down and thus were no longer paying it any attention. This was a mistake as the potion was now on fire. He cocked his head to one side and debated on whether or not to say something, quickly coming to a decision.

"What are you looking at us like that for?" Ondina demanded, clearly upset at his expression.

"Not looking at you." Sevan informed them. "Your potion is on fire. Is it supposed to do that?"

"Nice try." Mimi snapped, not believing him for some reason. "This potion can't catch fire."

"Clearly it can." Sevan shot back. He sighed and returned to the book just as a loud bang came from the general direction of the potion. He peered over the edge of the book and burst into a fit of true laughter when he saw a thoroughly startled pair of mermaids standing in front of the potion with their clothing slightly singed. "Oh, your faces!" He said, laughing so hard that his face began to ache.

"It's not funny!" Ondina insisted, glancing to Mimi.

Evidently Sevan was not the only one who found it funny. Mimi glanced over to Ondina and began to laugh as well, her mirth combining with Sevan's to echo through the grotto. Rita glanced up from her book and said nothing, merely smiling as the younger people laughed. Eventually Ondina joined in, albeit grudgingly, and her voice joined with the other two. "I warned you." Sevan said after his laughter had subsided, wiping away the tears of mirth that had formed in his eyes. "I told you that the potion was on fire."

"I don't understand how." Mimi said, frustrated now that her laughter had dissipated. "I really have made this plenty of times before. It shouldn't be able to explode like that."

"Maybe you used too much of an ingredient?" Ondina suggested, picking up a small jar by the bowl and giving it a cursory sniff. She made a face and put it down. "Or maybe you didn't use the right ingredients?"

"I checked and double checked." Mimi said, still clearly upset. "Everything is as it should be. The only difference is that I used a venom extract from a sea snake around here rather than from one back home."

"That might be your issue." Sevan said quietly, limping over to them. They looked at him warily, Ondina even slightly raising her arm as a precaution. He raised his arms in a gesture of peace and continued, "Sea snakes are mostly from the same classification, the ones who mostly inhabit water that is, but they don't all have the same sort of venom. Some are paralytic, some are hemotoxic, so on and so forth. If the venoms were different, would that affect the potion?"

"Probably." Mimi admitted, looking at Sevan with something bordering respect. "How did you know that?"

"I didn't work as a marine scientist since I was twelve for nothing you know." Sevan said, smiling. "I do know something, maybe not as much as a mermaid, but enough."

 **Hello readers, Hallowed here. As always, thank you very much for reading. Please, leave a review if you are enjoying the direction this story is taking. Thank you in advance. Cheers, Hallowed**


	13. Sickness

Every so often Sevan allowed himself a moment of quiet enjoyment. A day to himself in which he could relax and simply enjoy the hours as they whittled himself away from nothingness. It was one such day. Marcus was now, though only in small bursts, able to move throughout Rita's house without the aid of his crutch. This development was what allowed him to relax for the day. He was sitting on one of the chairs overlooking the beach, Rita's porch providing the perfect amount of sunlight and shade to truly enjoy the day.

The sun was just reaching its apex, simultaneously Sevan was reaching his favorite part of his most treasured book: A copy of the _Odyssey,_ a first edition of one of the first English translations of the book. A leather-bound cover with ornate gold embossing covering it, silver lettering making up the name. It had taken him years to acquire, a possession he had not realized that he wanted until he set his eyes upon it for the first time. Unfortunately its previous owner was by no means willing to part with such a rare piece of literature, not unless it was traded away for a book just as rare. Thankfully Sevan had experience in acquiring such books, and a network of people to assist him in the task. He often wondered what other people his age spent their time doing, but the question usually dissipated as fast as they appeared.

"Sevan!" Mimi and Ondina's combined shouts as they threw open the door leading to the porch failed to startle him from his reading, electing to glance up momentarily before returning to his book.

"Look, I am sure I did whatever it is that you are angry at me for. But today is my day off." He flipped the page in the book and returned to his reading, not sparing them another moment's thought.

"That's not what this is about!" Ondina said, darting forward and ripping his book from his hand, tossing it aside without a shred of thought or concern.

The mermaid hunter was treated with the horrifying sight of his favorite book disappearing over the side of the railing, falling several dozen feet into the plants and sand below. Without even looking at the book Sevan knew that there was going to be damage to the cover, at a minimum. He raised his hand towards where the book went over the railing, his jaw hanging open in mute shock. "That was my favorite book." He said, his voice nearly breaking with emotion. "I loved that book."

"Go get it later." Ondina said urgently, grabbing his extended hand and heaving him unceremoniously to his feet. "We need your help!"

"My poor book." Sevan said piteously, lamenting the loss. "You threw my book!"

"It's the baby dolphin at the marine park!" Mimi told him, ignoring his whining. "It's sick and no one knows what is wrong with it."

That snapped Sevan out of his reverie. He straightened immediately, all thoughts of his book pushed to the back of his mind. "Have you tried speaking to it?" He asked brusquely, limping his way into the house and grabbing his crutch. He didn't pause to reflect on how odd that would have sounded to a normal person, instead electing to focus his attention on the problem now before him.

"Of course." Ondina said, her tone making it clear that she was offended.

"No sass or sarcasm." Sevan said firmly, fixing her with a hard look. "Not when something like this is happening. Plenty of time for that later."

Evidently Sevan's tone and expression had the desired effect on Ondina as she nodded. "We tried talking to him." Mimi chimed in quickly. "But it's still too young, it can't tell us what's wrong."

"Makes sense." Sevan muttered, placing the crutch under his arm as he made his way out the front door. "Dolphins socialize from birth but there isn't much concrete proof on when they reach the point where they can vocally interact with their pod. It's probably still far too young. What are the symptoms?"

"He can't breathe right, and he isn't swimming straight." Ondina said worriedly. She held up a bag that made several clinking sounds. "We grabbed some medicinal plants from Rita's, and we decided to get you to help too."

"I appreciate that." Sevan murmured, thinking hard. "If he can't breathe right the lack of oxygen could be what is affecting his swimming, but it could also be a symptom. Are any of the other dolphins exhibiting symptoms?"

"No, they all said they feel fine." Mimi answered quickly.

Sevan questioned them the entire way to the marine park, a long walk when he could only move at a very slow pace due to his legs. They walked right through the employee's entrance, Mimi flashing her employment badge at the gatekeeper. "Where is he?" He asked brusquely, limping up to Dr. Ross after having discarder his crutch in some nearby bushes. "The sick dolphin."

"That's really none of your concern now, is it?" Dr. Ross asked snidely, looking up from his clipboard. Mimi and Ondina hung back several steps watching the exchange with wary expressions, uncertain if they should say something. "Not anymore."

"Look, I get that you don't like me." Sevan said, clearly unconcerned with the fact. "Whatever. But right now you need my help. That clipboard has blood test results on it, I've seen them before."

"Again, this is none of your concern." Dr. Ross said angrily. "The blood work is clean. The dolphin is probably just suffering from some mild sickness or something like that. We have it in solitary quarantine, everything is well in hand."

It took everything in Sevan's being to restrain himself from hitting the foolish doctor as hard as he possibly could. "You quarantined a baby dolphin, barely a month old?" He asked, working hard to keep his face neutral. "Are you completely insane?! It's going to be terrified and confused. It is sick and you removed it from the one source of stability it knows: its mother and its pod."

"I am the director of this marine park, if you have an issue with that you are more than welcome to leave." Dr. Ross said, his tone clear that the conversation was over. "In fact, please do. I would rather you not cause any more trouble in my park than you already have. Good day, Mr. Sevan."

The doctor walked away without another look back and Sevan let his rage take over his features. A clean blood test merely meant that there was no infections, and even that was no guarantee by any means. There were any number of other afflictions, potentially life threatening ones, which could be affecting the little dolphin. "What do we do now?" Mimi asked, registering the rage on Sevan's face and correctly interpreting it as a refusal to give up. "Dr. Ross is checking in on the dolphin every fifteen minutes, even if we can get in there we can't help him while worrying about that!"

"We could always knock him out for a little while." Ondina offered, twisting the Moon Ring on her finger. "Just until we-."

"No. He would immediately blame me or something like that. I have a better idea. Beat him at his own game." Sevan explained softly, pulling his phone from his pocket and quickly selecting a number to call. "Hey, is Dr. Stark in? This is Sevan-. Oh. I wasn't sure if you recognized my voice. How are you Logan? I'm glad to hear it. Listen, I'll call later and we can catch up, but I need to talk to the doc, _now._ Thanks."

"Who are you calling?" Ondina whispered. "This isn't the time for that!"

Sevan shot her a disapproving scowl and rolled his eyes. "Dr. Stark? It's good to talk to you, listen. I need your help. Yes, I know this will make us even, whatever. I'm at the Gold Coast Marine Park. Yeah. Dr. Ross. Look, they have a sick dolphin here, barely a month old. They did bloodwork on it, but they haven't examined it further than that. Yeah, the blood tests were clean but you know that doesn't mean a thing. They quarantined it too."

Ondina and Mimi drifted away as Sevan quickly explained the situation to this mysterious Dr. Stark. "Does he seem… different to you right now?" Mimi asked Ondina quietly. "Like, he seems… normal?"

"He actually seems like he cares." Ondina agreed. They both examined him for a moment and then turned to stare at one another again. "Do you think he actually cares about the dolphin, or is this something… else?"

"I'm not sure." Mimi admitted. "I _want_ to think that this is him actually caring. Rita says that we should trust him. But I'm not sure I can. Those three Moon Rings-."

Sevan hung up the phone with a small flourish and a twisted, evil grin spread across his face. His eyes danced with a feral light and both mermaids immediately became wary of him once more. "What did you do?" Ondina demanded, her tone filled with suspicion.

"I fixed our problem." Sevan said, chuckling lightly. He limped over to the fence and began to observe Dr. Ross, the evil grin still very evident on his face. "Just watch."

The mermaids did so, taking a position down the fence from the hunter and warily observing Dr. Ross. Only a few moments later the doctor seemingly received a phone call and brought his cellphone to his ear. Though they were too far to hear what was said, the rapidly whitening face of the doctor left no doubt as to the direction that the conversation was taking. Ross swept his eyes across the park and immediately landed on Sevan. The doctor's face did an odd thing, reddening in anger before abruptly turning pale once more. Sevan's wicked grin grew more pronounced as the doctor ended the call, his eyes positively gleaming with malice. The doctor met Sevan's eyes for a few seconds, but looked away and made a show of throwing his hands into the air.

"I believe, that is our cue." Sevan said softly, pushing off the railing and beginning to limp towards the quarantine pool. Dr. Ross did not appear to notice them as they passed, in fact he did not react at all. Sevan however, did say something. "A little word of advice, _doctor-"_ He twisted the word, mocking it. "If you ever jeopardize the health of the animals you are in charge of, _ever_ , I will find out and everything that my good friend Dr. Stark told you will come down upon you. That, is a promise."

Dr. Ross stiffened his shoulders, pointedly looking away from Sevan and the girls, still refusing to speak. They entered the quarantine pool, the guard letting them by without a single word. "Take a walk." Sevan instructed the man briskly, "I don't want anyone interfering with my work, you understand?"

"What about those two?" He asked gruffly, glaring at Mimi and Ondina.

"These two lovely ladies, are of more help to me than you could ever hope to be by standing there trying to look scary." Sevan said coldly, glaring at the guard. "Now get moving. You can come back after I open the gate."

The guard followed the instructions, striding away after shooting Sevan a malevolent glare. "Finally." He muttered, closing the gate behind them and bolting it shut. He turned to the girls and saw their wary stares and raised his hands in defense. "Look, I know that was harsh but I can't have him looking in here and seeing two mermaids-."

"That's not what we are concerned about." Ondina told him matter-of-factly. "What did you just do to Dr. Ross? He looked terrified!"

"He was terrified." Sevan chuckled again, enjoying the memory of the look of terror on the doctor's face. "That friend I called is well connected in the health department governing marine parks and zoos. There are literally thousands of health codes that marine parks must abide by. It is literally impossible for a park to have all of those down. Usually when they come by for inspections they overlook the smaller ones. I just had my friend make Dr. Ross aware that the next inspection could be very easy, or be the park's last."

It was then that Sevan smiled once more. It was a smile unlike any that Mimi or Ondina had ever seen before. It was half saintly-goodness, the assurance that Sevan was doing everything in his power to look over the animals at the marine park. The other was the smile of a demon, taking sadistic pleasure in causing Dr. Ross to crawl and fret with worry. It was a smile that completely explained Sevan as a person, equal parts good and twisted.


	14. Enter Aurora

It took Sevan and the mermaids almost no time to discern the cause of the little dolphin's distress. "He can't breathe!" Ondina said fervently, her hands going around the aquatic mammal as she softly whispered words of encouragement to it. "Do something!"

Sparing only a moment to glance at the water with loathing, Sevan stripped off his shirt and shorts. "Help me?" He asked Mimi gently lowering himself to a sitting position, his leg already giving him a warning flash of pain. The mermaid obliged, swimming to the edge of the pool and offering him a hand. Sevan took it gratefully as he dipped his legs into the water. The pain had been getting worse, but this was a fresh hell. He groaned deep in his throat, staring up at the sky as he attempted to bring his body back under his control once more.

"Are you alright?" Mimi asked warily, uncertain of how to interpret the groan.

"Fine." Sevan said shortly, one hand on the edge of the pool to brace himself. He took several deep, steadying breaths and let them out slowly. He released the edge of the pool, all too aware that Mimi was watching him with something bordering concern. "Allow me." He said, moving across the pool to Ondina and the baby dolphin.

Ondina obliged him, moving back slightly from the dolphin. He laid his hands on the dolphin's rubbery and yet surprisingly rough skin and began to whisper low words of encouragement to the young one, just as Ondina had moments ago. As he whispered to it his hands ran along its frame, searching for any abscesses or lesions that could have been overlooked. He heard the dolphin's weak breaths and the sound pulled at his heartstrings. He hated it when animals were hurt. After he completed checking out the animal's underbelly he gently turned it in the water, running his hands along the top of the animal. "Of course." He muttered the second that he began to inspect the dolphin's blowhole.

"What is it?" Ondina asked, returning to the dolphin's side. Sevan motioned for her to join him and she did so, albeit grudgingly.

"Look at his blow hole." Sevan said, moving aside so that she could do just that.

"There's… something there?" She asked uncertainly, squinting her eyes.

"Yeah. It's a parasite." Sevan sighed heavily and stepped back from the dolphin, raising his eyes to the sky once more as he began to think rapidly. Parasites, especially in dolphins so young, in a dolphin's blow hole were often enough a death sentence. The issue was that there was very little space between the air hole and the dolphin's brain, making any surgeries or medications risky. He brought a hand to his face, pinching the bride of his nose with thumb and forefinger, wincing slightly as the water burned him.

Ondina and Mimi exchanged curious glances as they watched Sevan walk away and begin to mutter to himself. "Is he alright?" Mimi asked quietly.

"Worry about that later." Ondina said, turning her full attention to the dolphin. She began to inspect the parasite even more thoroughly, Mimi joining her in the examination. After several minutes of this they shared a nod and extended their Moon Rings. In no time at all they had removed the parasite from the dolphin and the little one was breathing normally again. It squeaked happily and shook its head in appreciation, zipping around the pool.

So deep in his thoughts was Sevan that he didn't notice the change until the dolphin sped by him, causing him to whirl on the spot. His eyes widened in shock as he beheld the joyous dolphin and the smiling mermaids, watching the little creature celebrate its newfound health. His mouth was slightly agape as he looked back and forth rapidly between them. He had been considering the different medications that could do something about the parasites, none of which seemed promising, and now it seems that such a plan was not necessary at all. "H-how?" He croaked out. "How?"

Ondina held up her hand that her Moon Ring rested upon, a quizzical frown on her face. "Magic, of course." She said simply. "It wasn't even that difficult."

A curious medley of emotions was clashing inside Sevan as he stared at the two mermaids. He loved animals, to his core, and seeing one in distress was enough to make him wish that it was _he_ who was in pain instead. But the thought that it was one of the creatures whom he so despised that treated such an animal was enough to make his morals turn on themselves. Not trusting himself to make a coherent or even rational statement he slowly turned around and pulled himself to the edge of the pool. The water sent one last white hot tendril of pain coursing through his body as he got out of the pool. He managed to push himself to his feet, the effort leaving him breathing hard and leaning hard against the gate to steady himself. "If you wouldn't mind, get your legs back." He panted, glancing to the mermaids. "I want to get him back with his mother as soon as possible, the separation has stressed them out enough."

They both agreed and soon enough two very human looking girls were standing beside Sevan. He finished pulling his shirt back on and limped over to the gate, pushing it open and nodding to the guard. "The problem has been fixed." He said curtly. "Let the dolphin out, he is feeling much better."

The guard grunted an acknowledgement and Sevan strode away before seeing if the guard actually followed his orders. He retrieved his crutch from where he had hid it and began his trek back to Rita's. He was silent for the entire walk, his mind on the events that had just transpired. "Sevan!" Rita exclaimed when he stepped into the house. She was at the table, a large stack of papers set before her. "How did everything go?"

He didn't bother answering, mostly because her words only registered as white noise to his preoccupied brain. He disappeared into his room just as Ondina and Mimi stepped into the house. "I assume that it did not go well?" Rita asked delicately.

"No, the dolphin is fine now." Ondina said, frowning at the direction that Sevan had taken. "What's his problem?"

"I think," Rita said slowly, gesturing to the seats on either side of her, "That you should tell me just what it is that happened at the park."

The two younger mermaids obliged and quickly ran over the details of everything that happened from the moment that they stepped foot into the Marine Park. Rita listened to their tale intently, not interrupting them even a single time. When they finally finished speaking, informing her of how Sevan had gone quiet after the dolphin had been healed, Rita sat back in her seat and tilted her head to one side in contemplation. "Very interesting." She said finally.

"What is his problem?" Ondina asked again.

"I thought he liked animals, why was he upset about us healing the dolphin?" Mimi asked.

"I think you are mistaking his silence for anger." Rita corrected her gently. "I am very certain that Sevan is overjoyed that you saved the little one. What you aren't aware of is that parasites often kill dolphins that are held in captivity. Sevan undoubtedly knew of this and was most likely thinking of any possible way he could save the dolphin. Your quick fix of the issue undoubtedly left him questioning the true intent of magic."

In his bedroom, Sevan was doing just that. He was lying on his bed, staring up at the ceiling as the last remnants of the water dried from his skin. But the pain was a constant now and he barely paid it any mind. "My, my, my." An unfamiliar voice said loftily from somewhere in front of him. He sat straight up in bed, his hand reaching for a knife he kept hidden under his pillow. It took him less than a second to identify the source of the words. There, standing before his bed, was a woman with long flowing brown hair and a pale blue dress. Her smile widened when she registered the shock on his face and she glanced mockingly to the knife and rolled her eyes. "By all means, feel free to use it. It won't work."

"And why is that?" Sevan challenged, glancing to the doorway and wondering how she had managed to get into his room without his hearing her entrance. He should have been able to hear her, no matter how absorbed into his thoughts he was.

"Because I am not really here." She said simply. She grinned even further at his glance to the doorway and chuckled. The more time that she spent speaking to Sevan the more wary he became of this woman. She was dangerous, he sensed that instinctively. Dangerous in the same way that a shark was when it smelled blood. Perhaps more so. "Oh, don't worry about us being interrupted. I've cast a spell to keep this conversation between us."

"What are you?" Sevan asked, already knowing the answer.

"Really, Sevan." She said chidingly, her voice taking on the same tone a mother's would. "There is no need for questions like that. You already know what I am."

"A mermaid." He said, his eyes narrowing dangerously. "Why are you here? What do you mean you aren't really here?"

"Just as I said. I am an illusion, a construct of magic I sent to you so that we could have this lovely little talk." The mermaid paused for dramatic effect, perhaps waiting for Sevan to say or do something to prove the validity of her statement. When none was forthcoming she shrugged and continued, "But, enough of that for now. I think that you and I can help one another, Sevan."

"How do you know my name?" He asked suspiciously. He was absolutely certain that he had never met this mermaid before. "And what is yours?"

"Oh, pardon my manners," She laughed again, her cold, hard laugh. "I am Aurora. And, as for how I know about you, I have known about you for a very long time Sevan. You have been a subject of my interest ever since your parents were so _tragically_ taken from you." She added a dramatic sigh at the end, causing Sevan to scowl.

"Is that a fact?" He asked coldly. "And why have you been keeping such a close eye on me?"

"Because it is always wise to keep an eye on interesting people." She said loftily. She then grew serious and continued, "But enough of that. I came here to make you an offer."

"What kind of offer?" Sevan asked warily.

"I know that water burns you." She said airily, not bothering to prelude this information. "I am well aware that the… dragon has cursed you. I can fix that if you'd like. In fact I can do much more than that."

"Out of the goodness of your heart I assume?" Sevan barked out a laugh, crossing his arms.

"Of course not, naturally I want something in return." She said easily. "I want you to kill the dragon."

"Sort of already working on that." Sevan sneered. "And you apparently know how well that went for me."

"Oh, of course." She said sweetly. "But, luckily for you, I happen to have faith that you will find some way to kill the beast. Otherwise I would let you deal with your little water aversion by yourself. It doesn't truly bother me, but letting that dragon continue living… that does."

Sevan didn't bother to roll his eyes, his expression was antagonistic enough by itself. "If you want to help kill the dragon, why not just talk to Rita and the others?"

"Difference of opinions." Aurora said, shrugging once more. "They are, ah, less inclined to seeking a true solution than I am. Besides, you lot seem to be getting along very well with one another. I would hate for me to come between you."

"Fine." Sevan said, truly not caring about the apparent bad blood between Rita and Aurora. "What did you mean that you can do much more than just fix me?"

"Just as I said." Aurora smiled and her illusion seemed to grow slightly brighter. "Accomplished as you are, you are still nothing more than a trespasser into a world that you truly don't belong in. I can fix that, make you truly belong."

"If you are going to offer to turn me into a merman-." Sevan began warningly, raising his knife.

"Of course not, calm yourself." She rolled her eyes. "Even I am not powerful enough to do that, only the Moon Pool can do such a thing. No, what I propose is to give you the ability to use magic."

"Come again?" Sevan asked, certain he had misheard her. "Me? Use magic?"

"Those Moon Rings you have worn for so long have had quite the effect on you." Aurora smiled wickedly. "Prolonged exposure to magic and all that. Humans used to be able to use magic as well, though they have forgotten with the passages of time. They still have the capacity but no ability to reach it. Since you have been around magic so much and so closely, I can awaken within you the ability to use it. Those Moon Rings happen to be the perfect conduit."

It took Sevan less than a moment to decide. "Do it." He commanded, a smile beginning to creep across his face.


	15. Round Two

"I do not understand it." Rita said, clearly frustrated, staring down at Sevan's now fully healed leg. "By all accounts your leg should not be anywhere near as healed as it is."

"I'm not one to question good luck." Sevan said, leaping up from the bed and grinning as his legs easily handled his weight with zero pain or strain. He hopped quickly from one foot to the other and patted his thighs before straightening to smile at Rita. "Maybe this dragon's curse was keeping the magic from working like it should?"

"It's certainly possible…" Rita said slowly, staring at Sevan with no small amount of suspicion. He returned the stare with a politely indifferent smile, the same one he had mastered years ago. "But for it to happen so suddenly…"

In retrospect it probably would have been wiser for him to hide his regained ability to be in water without suffering painful consequences but being cooped up was not Sevan's style by any means. He hated it in truth and now that he was able to move freely once more he capitalized on it, heading straight for the grotto's sea entrance and diving in. His joy at finding that Aurora had kept her word was only seconded to the fact that he no longer felt the urge to hold his breath. He could breathe underwater. It had been his bad luck that his foray out of the grotto had been met by Weilan and Zac, the two of them shocked and confused to see Sevan swimming out of the grotto. Needless to say they had escorted him back and that was how he came to have his current conversation with Rita.

"If I've learned anything from those books that you have it's that magic is unpredictable." Sevan remarked calmly. He glanced back to the grotto and lowered his voice. "Have you made any progress on figuring out what those two are up to?"

"None at all I am afraid." Rita said worriedly, her face drawn up in lines. "And with tonight being the full moon, I am even more worried about what they may do."

"You could always just try to keep them here." Sevan pointed out, leaning against the wall. "You _are_ their teacher. If they didn't listen you could demand they give you an explanation. It's a simple trap."

"Perhaps, but Weilan is a very skilled young mermaid." Rita said simply. "It would be very simple for them to sneak away from me I am afraid, no matter how vigilant I may be."

"I'll see what they are up to." Sevan said, pushing off from the wall and rolling his shoulders. "Or at least try to, if they are in the grotto still. They came there for something, not sure what though."

"I appreciate that, thank you, Sevan." Rita smiled warmly at him.

"No guarantees." Sevan warned, heading for the secret passage that led to the grotto. He descended the staircase with almost zero sound, his ears intent on picking up anything that could potentially explain their presence and their actions.

They were quiet, their voices scarcely more than whispers, and Sevan could barely discern a single word they were saying. Fortunately for him they were intent on their secrecy, so intent on fact that they did not notice when Ryker came to stand at the bottom of the staircase. He did not say a word, merely watched as they sat on the couch and spoke quietly to one another. He was now close enough to just barely make out their words.

"We still aren't sure that it will work." Weilan said quietly, urgently. "There's a good chance that Turn the Tide won't affect the dragon's breath."

 _Turn the Tide?_ Sevan wondered. _Isn't that the spell Weilan used the other day to reflect the water ball?_

"It will work." Zac said confidently. "It has to. Besides, the dragon's magic is used for mermaid not mermen."

"That's because we don't know what will happen if you get hit by its breath." Weilan whispered furiously. "You might lose your tail too, we don't know!"

"Look, this is our best shot." Zac answered just as angrily. "We can't just sit back and wait for Sevan or Rita to find something in those books, we have to do something!"

They lapsed into silence, staring at one another as though trying to impose their will through the intensity of their gaze. Deciding that he had heard enough, Sevan chuckled quietly. Their heads whipped around to stare at him, their intensity transforming to wariness. "Oh, by all means, don't stop on my account." He said airily, leaning against the wall and folding his arms across his chest. "I'm very interested in this little plan of yours."

"If you are here to stop us, don't even try." Zac said flatly. "This is the best chance we have right now."

"It's not a bad plan." Sevan shrugged. "I won't stop you. Doubt I could to be honest, you two seem set on it. Even if I told Rita there wouldn't be much she could do."

"So you won't tell anyone?" Weilan asked warily, studying his face for any sign of deception.

"Probably not." Sevan said noncommittally. "But, since the sun is setting right now, you probably don't have much time before that dragon decides to say 'hello', isn't that right?"

"Why are you helping us?" Zac asked, suspicion consuming his tone. "You aren't getting anything from this."

Sevan smiled at this, his eyes cold. "No, admittedly, I am not. Not directly. But getting rid of that dragon that has a bit of a personal interest to me." He shrugged and continued, "I sincerely despise losing, in any regard, to anything be it beast or human. That dragon… well, it beat me."

"So you are okay with Zac risking his tail because of some vendetta you have against the dragon?" Weilan snapped, glaring at him. "What kind of person does that?"

"This one," Sevan answered simply. "Look, if you still don't trust me that's fine. But don't try to play off this plan of yours off on me as if it were my fault. If you want me to attempt to talk you two out of it, fine. Say so."

He waited for what he considered an appropriate time for a response before sneering slightly. "I thought not," he said. "Thought not. Now, where are you two planning on doing this?"

"The Moon Pool." Zac said, drawing a look of surprise from Weilan. "Look, if this goes bad I would like someone other than just you to know about it. He's doesn't have a tail so he can't lose one if the dragon's breath hits him."

"Glad to know you are using your heads," Sevan said. He checked his watch and glanced upwards. "Rita will be expecting me back, she asked me to spy on you two. If you are going to go, now is the time. Weilan, let Zac go on ahead. I'll talk to Rita and get the crosshair off of you two. Once that's done, give me a lift to Mako."

"What are you going to do?" she asked, the idea clearly amusing her. "Yell at it?"

Sevan drew a knife from a hidden sheath at his side in the space of time that it took to blink and held it easily before him. "This might not kill it, might not even hurt it, but it will probably get his attention at least. And if that doesn't," he put the knife away and pulled his necklace of Moon Rings free. "These certainly will. We've already seen that."

"So, what? You will play decoy?" Zac asked. "Isn't that a bit dangerous?"

"So is what you are doing." the hunter said boredly, despite the fact that his pulse was racing with adrenaline."

Sevan nodded to the two of them in farewell then, leaving abruptly. He jogged up the stairs and painted an annoyed look on his face. "Well that was annoying," he told Rita as soon as he was in the kitchen. "Those two aren't up to anything, they're just exploring Mako."

Rita looked up from petting Poseidon and saw the hunter's face drawn up in aggravation. "Well, that's certainly not so bad, is it?" she asked warily.

"Ordinarily I would say no, it's not," Sevan agreed. "But with that dragon about, it is sheer stupidity. Which I informed them of, and they ignored me."

"Aah, well at least they aren't doing anything dangerous," she said with a sigh of relief.

 _Probably wise you don't know._ Sevan thought to himself, _You have too much skill with magic to risk losing in a dangerous rescue mission._

He departed the kitchen, heading for the beach, a few moments later. The sun had just finished setting and his Moon Ring necklace began to glow faintly as it drew in the energy of the moon, increasing their energy storage. If tonight went badly he would need them to lure the beast away, which he had a strange feeling would be necessary. His stomach tightened with anticipation, but he paid it no mind. Once he was by the beach, he fluttered his fingers at the tide. Focusing hard he managed to pull a small ball of water away and hover it before him. "Round two beastie, this time you're done."


End file.
